Sentencing for convicted Franklin school bus aide put on hold
Amanda Davila was convicted Monday of endangering the welfare of a child.
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Sentencing for convicted Franklin school bus aide Amanda Davila has been put on hold.
A Somerset County Superior Court judge overseeing the case agreed to postpone the sentence after Davila’s attorney filed a motion for a new trial.
The request was made after the court learned a day after the verdict that the victim's mother never told jurors that she collected a $5 million settlement from bus company Montauk Transportation.
A jury found Davila guilty of endangering the welfare of a child on Monday for her part in the death of Fajr Williams. A four-point harness strangled the disabled 6-year-old girl she was wearing while on a school bus.
“This afternoon, I will be filing a motion for a new trial,” defense attorney Mike Policastro told Judge Pete Tober during the hearing.
Policastro told the court that Najmah Nash’s failure to tell the jury about that $5 million speaks to her credibility.
It also seems to question her truthfulness on the stand about whether or not she may have played a part in the death of her daughter Fajr Williams.
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"Like when she said, 'Oh, I definitely buckled up my daughter on the lower harness.' When we saw in the video evidence when people approached her, she slid down because the harness wasn’t buckled up,” said Policastro after the hearing.
The defense said at trial, Amanda Davila was not the only one to blame, pointing out the four-point harness slid up to Fajr’s neck because the girl’s teenage sister didn’t buckle the lap belt correctly.
Policastro says Nash may have been protecting her settlement by testifying it was buckled.
There was another major development in Friday's hearing when Judge Tober’s staff learned that in August 2023, Najmah Nash filed a false police report in Newark.
She claimed her Audi was stolen, yet police say she actually had it towed to Trenton after a crash.
In a back-and-forth between Judge Tober and assistant prosecutor Mike McLaughlin, the judge suggested the prosecutor should’ve known about this:
Tober: “Did you know about that charge?”
McLaughlin: “No, I did not. I just had my paralegal run another criminal history, it is still not on the criminal history.”
The arrest for allegedly lying to police could go to Nash’s credibility.
Regarding the possible retrial, McLaughlin said, “The state will argue the facts of the case when the motion is filed."
“I can’t in good conscience hold the sentencing date of March 7 as a firm date. We have to decide this motion to see if testimony is needed," Judge Tober said.
Arguments concerning a retrial will be held in March.
Nash may be subpoenaed to answer for her testimony. It’s possible she could be charged with perjury.
Davila was in court listening to the proceedings.
