On June 15, 2020, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Middlesex County case of State v. Alexander Andrews. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.2 involved the Assignment Judge’s comparison of the defendant’s case to similar cases in overruling the State’s rejection on the Graves Act waiver petition. This was an interlocutory appeal, meaning that the […]

The Appellate Division concluded with the following in relevant part: While we conclude the plain language of N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(b)(2) authorizes defendant’s custodial sentences as a condition of his probation, we also observe a probationary sentence conditioned on service of the mandatory period of parole ineligibility is consistent with the Legislature’s “criminalization of the act of driving while one’s […]

Judge Vernoia continued in relevant part: More pertinent here, the Court also directed that, where the trial court concludes a probationary sentence is appropriate, “it must condition that term on a 270-day period of community service or of incarceration without parole eligibility.” Ibid. (emphasis added). Thus, the Court permitted and approved a split sentence under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(b)(2) that includes imprisonment and […]

The Appellate Division continued in relevant part: Here, the periods of parole ineligibility imposed as conditions of defendant’s imprisonment do not fall within the Hartye proscription. The trial court did not sentence defendant to a term of imprisonment at a state correctional facility in accordance with N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(b)(3) or impose a period of parole ineligibility pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(b). Instead, the court […]

The Court recognized that both subsections (b)(2) and (b)(3) of N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2 provide for imposition of terms of “imprisonment,” and it noted differences between the imprisonment authorized in each subsection. For example, the Court explained that a term of imprisonment under subsection (b)(3) “must be served in a state correctional facility,” whereas the custodial portion of a split […]

The Appellate panel continued in relevant part: In Rodriguez, the Court reasoned that an intermittent sentence under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(b)(7) is not authorized for a conviction under N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26 because N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26(c) “otherwise provides” for service of a mandatory period of parole ineligibility. Here, unlike in Rodriguez, there is no Criminal Code provision that “otherwise provides” for a sentence that is inconsistent with imposition of a split […]

Judge Vernoia continued in relevant part: The enumerated sentencing alternatives listed in N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(b) must be applied “except as provided in subsection (a),” and subsection (a) includes a more general exception. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2(a) requires sentencing in accordance with the seven enumerated sentencing alternatives, “except as otherwise provided by” the Criminal Code. In other words, the enumerated sentencing alternatives are authorized and […]

On June 4, 2020, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Sussex County case of State v. Andres Chavarria. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2 concerned the legality of sentencing a defendant to county jail time with mandatory parole ineligibility as a condition of probation following fourth-degree driving with suspended license convictions.                                   Former Monmouth County criminal […]

The appellate panel concluded with the following: As best as we can tell from the limited record here, the only “transaction” committed by Marias was his sale of a portion of the stolen goods. Had he been charged under subsection (a) with illegally possessing the remainder of the stolen goods in his grandmother’s garage, the […]

On May 19, 2020, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Essex County case of State v. Ian Marias. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-23 was whether the “fair market value” underlying a money laundering charge is capped by the discounted price that the defendant received for stolen goods. Presiding Judge Sabatino wrote for the Appellate […]