Nathaniel Jamison, 58, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2014 and he's currently incarcerated.
TRENTON -- A state appellate court has overturned a man's drug conviction and ordered him a new trial due erroneous testimony from police officers about the cocaine found in his home.
Nathaniel Jamison, 58, was convicted of possessing and distributing cocaine and maintaining a narcotics nuisance at a trial in Mercer County Superior Court, stemming from a 2011 police investigation at his home.
Nathaniel Jamison He was sentenced in 2014 to 13 years in prison - 6 1/2 without parole. He is currently incarcerated.
During a search of his residence, police found 2.94 ounces of powder cocaine and various materials commonly used to package and sell drugs, like plastic bags.
On Monday, an appeals court said they were persuaded by Jamison's lawyers' arguments that the testimony of police Officer Matthew Bledsoe and Detective Brian Kiely influenced the jury on the issue of whether the cocaine was for distribution or personal use.
The court said the trial prosecutor asked Kiely, a Mercer County prosecutor's detective who testified as an expert witness, specific questions about the quantity of cocaine.
It led the detective to state his opinion that he thought the quantity was for cooking it into crack cocaine and selling, and not for Jamison's personal use, the court said. The prosecutor should have asked standard, hypothetical questions about the quantity of cocaine.
And Bledsoe, a Trenton officer who categorized the evidence during the search, testified that various seized items contained "suspected" crack cocaine.
Both officers' testimony went unchecked by the defense and its cumulative effect was "clearly capable of producing an unjust result."
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"Undoubtedly, Kiely's expert testimony directly opining defendant's cocaine was not for personal use impacted the jury, laymen who may not understand the significance of the quantity of a drug," the court wrote.
"Likewise, this error was compounded by Bledsoe's improper opinion testimony that various other -- untested -- seized items contained suspected crack cocaine, statements which surely influenced the jury on the issue of possession and further buttressed Kiely's opinion defendant intended to distribute cocaine."
Jamison is currently behind bars at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County and his current term had him eligible for parole in 2020.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.