An Atlantic City man was convicted in a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian in 2022.
Harris Jacobs' first trial in May ended the jury unable to make a unanimous decision.
But jurors at his retrial found him guilty Tuesday, after a little more than a day of deliberations.
In the end, it did not matter.
Jacobs was given a pardon in the last round of those granted by Gov. Phil Murphy, just hours before the Democrat leaves office.
Without it, he would have faced a mandatory sentence of five to 10 years.
The pardon was issued before the jury reached its verdict, defense attorney Lou Barbone told BreakingAC.
"My client received a call from the governor's counsel at 7:30 a.m.," he said. "The pardon was issued but not in our possession. We know it was issued before the verdict."
Rumors had been swirling that Murphy would pardon Jacobs even as the second trial was ongoing.
The governor's spokesperson did not return a request for comment, as Murphy's final minutes in office ticked down.
Jacobs was 45th on the list of 97 pardons made in Murphy's final day. He also gave 51 commutations.
Jacobs' father, Joe Jacobs, is a political powerbroker with ties to the governor. Harris Jacobs spoke to his father 10 times after the crash, but never called police.
Jacobs talked to his father, Joe Jacobs, 10 times after the crash.There is no question Harris Jacobs knew he struck pedestrian Orlando Fraga in the predawn hours of Sept. 4, 2022.
It was what happened within the next two minutes that made his defense against a criminal charge of leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in a death.
Surveillance video shows the Atlantic City man pull into the Dunkin Donuts at Atlantic and Indiana avenues, rushing to the injured man and even bending down, possibly touching him.
https://breakingac.com/news/2021/oct/22/photo-shows-why-state-wont-cure-atlantic-city-boe-/
Police would investigate for seven hours before tracking Jacobs down and making an arrest.
In that time, Jacobs told his cousin and roommate, Peyton Caldwell, what had happened.
He also called his father 10 times.
The one thing he did not do was call police.
Barbone argued that it was a trauma response from a man suffering from acute stress disorder.
Dr. Gary Glass, a longtime forensic psychiatrist, testified about Jacobs' mental issues, in an effort to prove the defendant did not "knowingly" leave the scene, a requirement to find him guilty of second-degree leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
Just as in the first trial, jurors asked to listen to Glass' testimony again during deliberations.
This time, however, they were able to agree to convict. It also turned out to be moot.
