Prosecutors argued that Minor thrust the knife into Locker and did not just hold it. In its 4-0 decision, the appeals court said a murder conviction could have been supported by the forensic evidence, but Berkman’s flawed instruction in effect “gutted the defense.”
Locker was one of five members of the Hewlett-Woodmere Wrestling Committee, a group of parents that raised funds to bring wrestling to the high school in 2006. As part of the group’s agreement with the school, the committee had to fund the sport for its first and second year. Locker and the other members of the committee raised more than $110,000 to do that.
The Committee established the Jeff Locker Memorial Scholarship in his memory. The $500 scholarship is awarded to a graduating Hewlett High School student “with a passion for business as demonstrated through school activities and extra-curricular community service projects,” as stated on the group’s website, hewlettwrestling.com.