WOODBURY — James Stuart, a
Deptford police officer charged with the murder of a 27-year-old last year,
appeared in court for a brief hearing Monday morning.
Stuart, 30, appeared before
Superior Court Judge Walter Marshall Jr., however, additional discovery
materials were needed. Marshall opted to schedule the next hearing for Feb. 18.
Stuart pleaded not guilty in
November to first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and possession of a
weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with a fatal shooting on Jan. 5 at
his Stanford Avenue home in Deptford.
In the early morning hours of
Jan. 5, Stuart called a side phone line at his police department because his
friend, David Compton, had been "shot in the cheek."
On a recording of the emergency
call, a calm Stuart told dispatchers Compton was “playing with my [service]
weapon. It was loaded. There was a shot fired.”
Compton, a Woodbury resident,
was taken off life support six days later and died of his injuries. His family
said last year that Stuart's call to his own police department was
"self-serving."
Monday, Bill Compton, David's
father, said the delay is frustrating, particularly because attorneys claim to
be missing discovery information.
"What frustrates me the
most is things are missing," said Bill, who appeared in the courtroom with
his wife, Maureen, and David's sister, Tracey Sharpe.
"I just have to have faith
that justice will be served," Bill Compton said.
Stuart, whose attorney John C.
Eastlack could not be reached for comment Monday, is free on bail.
