On February 14, 2022, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Bergen County case of State v. M.K.P. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:24-8 was whether under the circumstances, the caretaker’s assault of her elderly mother constituted the crime of elder neglect. Presiding Judge Clarkson Fisher wrote for the Court in relevant part: In appealing, defendant […]

Justice Solomon and the 5-2 majority concluded with the following in relevant part: Finally, we reject the ACDL’s argument that constitutional principles of fundamental fairness preclude juvenile convictions from being counted as predicate offenses under the Three Strikes Law. The fundamental fairness doctrine “serves to protect citizens generally against unjust and arbitrary governmental action” where there […]

Justice Solomon continued in relevant part: Defendant also contends that, by counting juvenile-age crimes as predicate offenses, the Three Strikes Law deprives the offender of a meaningful opportunity to rehabilitate and reenter society as contemplated by Miller and Zuber. Defendant insists therefore that Miller and Zuber must necessarily change the outcome of our constitutional analysis. We disagree. Miller and Zuber are intended to afford juveniles an […]

Nor do defendant and amici’s arguments regarding legislative intent, the requirements of Miller and Zuber, or other constitutional principles militate in favor of vacating defendant’s sentence. Defendant attributes significance to the fact that the Legislature limited the definition of recidivists under the persistent offender statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:44-3(a), to defendants over the age of twenty-one who committed their three qualifying crimes […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court continued in relevant part: Second, an enhanced life-without-parole sentence is not grossly disproportionate where the offense is a dangerous and violent first-degree crime, such as armed robbery or attempted murder, the offenses for which defendant here received his final strike. Furthermore, as we noted in Oliver, repeat offenders are already subject to […]

On February 7, 2022, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Cumberland County case of State v. Samuel Ryan. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.1 was whether application of the “Three Strikes Law” was unconstitutional when one of the predicate offenses was committed as a juvenile. Justice Solomon wrote for a 5-2 majority of the […]

On July 15, 2020, the Burlington County Superior Law Division decided the case of State v. J.T.  The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:29-9 was whether the defendant could be found guilty of contempt for placing an order for flowers before he was served with the temporary restraining order (TRO). Judge Fikry held in relevant part: […]

The Appellate Division concluded with the following in relevant part: The fundamental fairness doctrine is an integral part of the due process guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, which protects against arbitrary and unjust governmental action.” State v. Njango (2021); accord Jamgochian v. N.J. State Parole Bd. (2008). “The doctrine serves as ‘an augmentation […]

We recognize that defendant was not sentenced to life without parole or life with a lengthy period of parole ineligibility and was eligible for parole after serving only thirteen years. “Nevertheless, a statutorily permissible sentence may still violate the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.” We focus “on the amount of real time” defendant […]

The Appellate Division continued in relevant part: However, there is no evidence in the record to support the Board’s contention that Thomas’s lack of memory is less than genuine and, apart from the issue of recollection, the record is replete with evidence supporting his acknowledgement of responsibility of his crimes as sincere and legitimate. Psychological […]