Jury to hear cop's racial comments in nanny-cam beating
Posted: May 1, 2016 - 4:00am

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jurors deciding the fate of a man prosecutors say was caught on a "nanny cam" attacking a woman while her 3-year-old daughter watched cartoons will also see a part of the video where a white investigator is heard using racial slurs to describe the black suspect.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler has granted requests from Shawn Custis' attorney to show those parts of the video and have the officer and another investigator testify, NJ.com reported (http://bit.ly/1T6Y6po).

Custis, 45, of Newark, was charged with attempted murder, robbery, burglary and related offenses in connection with the June 21, 2013, home invasion that was caught on a camera hidden in the living room of the Millburn home.

The video showed a man punching and kicking the woman, before throwing her down the basement stairs. The woman suffered a concussion, chipped teeth, an injured lip, facial swelling and leg injuries in the attack.

When the trial began earlier this month, Custis' attorney said it wasn't his client in the video and asked why prosecutors stopped showing it to jurors where they did.

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper said this week that he then went back to view the rest of the video and discovered the part showing Millburn police Detective Collin McMillan describe the suspect in racial terms, including twice as a "monkey" and once using the n-word.

McMillan didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Custis' attorney, John McMahon, said that the comments taint the investigation. He argued that McMillan's colleagues must have known he was "racist" and questioned why he was allowed to work on a case involving a black suspect.

Wigler said he reviewed personnel and internal affairs files for the officers who were at the scene and didn't find anything to suggest they were racially biased.

Custis was arrested a week after the video was released to the media and he was identified as a suspect.

Semper said in opening statements that the case against Custis is "not a whodunit" and that witnesses who know Custis saw the video and told police that he was the assailant. Semper also said a DNA analysis of bloody jeans belonging to Custis showed it was the victim's blood.

McMahon told the jury earlier this month that the video did not clearly depict the assailant's face. He called the identifications made by witnesses "meaningless."

He also pointed out that other people called police and told them that the man in the video was someone else.