The opinion
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
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SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-0443-23
JUDITH VASQUEZ,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
NEW JERSEY STATE
PAROLE BOARD,
Respondent-Respondent.
____________________________
Argued May 29, 2025 – Decided November 10, 2025
Before Judges Sabatino, Gummer and Jacobs.
On appeal from the New Jersey State Parole Board.
Bruce I. Afran argued the cause for appellant (Steven
L. Sacks-Wilner, on the briefs).
Christopher C. Josephson, Deputy Attorney General,
argued the cause for the respondent (Matthew J.
Platkin, Attorney General, attorney; Janet Greenberg
Cohen, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel;
Christopher C. Josephson, on the brief).
The opinion of the court was delivered by
JACOBS, J.A.D.
Appellant Judith Vasquez appeals from the New Jersey State Parole
Board's final decision denying her parole and imposing a sixty-month future
eligibility term ("FET") following a sentence of life imprisonment for murder
and manslaughter. We affirm the Board's decision to deny parole and conclude
the Board's FET decision was rendered moot by additional proceedings.
I.
Vasquez, now sixty-nine years old, has been incarcerated since September
1992, following her arrest for fatally stabbing her boyfriend, A.P. In 1995, a
jury convicted Vasquez of his murder and related weapons offenses. In 2000,
she pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter for the shooting death
of her second husband, E.G. Pursuant to terms of a plea agreement, the trial
court imposed an aggregate sentence of life with a thirty-year term of parole
ineligibility for murder concurrent to ten years with three-and-a-half years of
parole ineligibility for manslaughter.
The factual record reveals that in May 1990, Vasquez shot E.G. multiple
times and, with the help of an acquaintance, disposed of his body in the Hudson
River. Her involvement was not uncovered until September 1992, when a
similar fatal attack on A.P. led police to investigate possible connections
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between the two homicides. In the investigation that followed, Vasquez's sister
informed police that Vasquez had confessed both killings to her. The details of
the offenses, including the use of significant violence and subsequent
concealment efforts, are undisputed in the record.
A two-member Board panel conducted its first hearing on July 15, 2022,
days after Vasquez's sixty-sixth birthday, approximately two months before her
thirty-year minimum eligibility period. At that hearing, Vasquez maintained
that both killings had been committed not by her but by a man named "Manny."
She repeated this position before a three-member Board panel on March 1, 2023,
and in correspondence considered by both panels. The first panel denied parole,
determining "the establishment of a future eligibility term within the
presumptive schedule was clearly inappropriate due to [Vasquez's] lack of
satisfactory progress in reducing the likelihood of future criminal behavior[,]"
and referred the case to the three-member panel. N.J.A.C. 10A:71-3.21(d). The
three-member panel fixed the FET at sixty months, rather than the presumptive
term of twenty-seven months, plus or minus nine months.
Across these proceedings, the Board panels reviewed favorable and
unfavorable factors. Among the former, the panels noted: "(1) no prior offense
record; (2) participation in program(s) specific to behavior; (3) participation in
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institutional program(s); (4) . . . favorable institutional adjustment; (5) attempt
made to enroll and participate in program(s) but not admitted; and (6) minimum
custody status achieved/maintained." In addition to her age and multiple health
conditions, the Board also recognized Vasquez's extensive prison employment,
pursuit of education and the arts, including participation in programs recognized
outside the institution, and a substantial support network.
In contrast, the Board found Vasquez's persistent efforts to attribute her
crimes to another individual, "Manny," reflected an unwillingness or inability
to accept responsibility for her crimes or demonstrate genuine insight into her
violent conduct. In imposing a sixty-month FET, the Board distinguished
between a mere assertion of innocence and the ongoing minimization or denial
of responsibility for serious criminal acts, stating in its written decision:
. . . the continued manner that you emphasize your
crimes were committed by Manny demonstrates you
truly do not understand the violence you demonstrated
when you killed two (2) victims in two (2) distinct acts.
After such a long period of confinement, this posture
on your part is troubling in the extreme. You continue
to blame an individual who was not a suspect in either
case, not a co-defendant and was not indicted on any
crime related to your case. Based on these
observations, it is the belief of the Board Panel that
your complete apathy, dismissiveness and total lack of
introspection would place public safety in grave
jeopardy if you were to be released on parole at this
time.
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Vasquez's administrative appeal to the Board resulted in a final agency
decision approving the three-member Board panel's determination. However,
due to commutation credit, earned work and minimum custody credits, Vasquez
was scheduled for a parole hearing in October 2025, well before the sixty-month
mark. That hearing has now transpired, resulting in a denial of parole.
II.
We review parole decisions under a deferential standard, recognizing the
Parole Board's expertise and the importance of its discretion. Acoli v. N.J. State
Parole Bd., 250 N.J. 431, 449 (2022). However, the Board's authority is not
absolute. As the Supreme Court explained in Acoli, "our courts are the ultimate
arbiters of whether the Board has acted within the bounds of the law." Id. at
454-55. Parole may be denied only where, by a preponderance of the evidence,
there is a "substantial likelihood that the inmate will commit a crime under the
laws of this State if released on parole at such time." Id. at 477 (citing N.J.S.A.
30:4-123.53 (1979)). The Board must consider factors enumerated in N.J.A.C.
10A:71-3.11(b), which include not only the "facts and circumstances of the
offense" but also an inmate's "mental and emotional health[,]" institutional
performance, and demonstration of insight or rehabilitation. Id. at 457. We are
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mindful our role is not to "substitute our judgment for that of the [Parole] Board"
regarding denial of parole or setting an FET. Id. at 479. Unless the Board's
decision is found to be "arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, or not supported
by substantial credible evidence in the record as a whole[,]" it shall not be
disturbed. In re Stallworth, 208 N.J. 182, 194 (2011) (alteration omitted); see
Trantino v. N.J. State Parole Bd. ("Trantino IV"), 154 N.J. 19, 23-24 (1998);
McGowan v. N.J. State Parole Bd., 347 N.J. Super. 544, 563 (App. Div. 2002).
Vasquez contends the Board failed to conduct the individualized, forward-
looking assessment demanded by the Supreme Court in Acoli. She contends the
Board instead unduly focused on her long-past offenses and refusal to admit
guilt. She asserts her perfect institutional record, age, poor health, and program
participation outweigh any purported risk to public safety.
Based on the record and its detailed written findings, we are satisfied the
Board complied with its regulatory and constitutional obligations. The Board
explicitly acknowledged Vasquez's positive institutional adjustment, absence of
infractions, and efforts towards rehabilitation, including her advocacy and
artistic accomplishments. The Board did not base its denial solely on the gravity
of her crimes. Rather, it identified as a present-day concern appellant's
persistent refusal not merely to admit guilt but failure to demonstrate any
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recognition of the violent conduct proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial and
to which she had pleaded guilty by allocution. The Board's core rationale was
not conclusory but supported by detailed documentary and testimonial evidence,
including Vasquez's statements during hearings. The Board also took into
consideration confidential psychological evaluations, scoring Vasquez as
"moderate" risk to recidivate and a likelihood of successful completion of parole
on release to be just "fair" due to a "constellation[] of risks and strengths
previously identified."
We discern no arbitrariness in the Board's conclusion that the statutory
standard — parole may be denied only for a "substantial likelihood" of re-
offense — was met in this case. Although age and infirmity may weigh against
risk, as emphasized, these considerations are not dispositive, especially where
other factors relating to insight and personal responsibility remain salient.
We decline to address the propriety of the sixty-month FET imposed by
the Board, as Vasquez's next parole hearing occurred well before the sixty-
month mark because of sentence credits and good-conduct time. Accordingly,
the FET imposed in 2023 is functionally moot as to any current interest that
could be redressed by this court at this stage. Our decision is without prejudice
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to any application by Vasquez for review of her most recent parole hearing or
any subsequent actions regarding a FET.
We have been informed the Board again denied Vasquez parole following
an October 2025 parole hearing. We render our decision in this appeal based on
the record presented at oral argument in May of this year without prejudice to
any review appellant may seek of the Board's October 2025 decision.
Affirmed.
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