12-07-07 A-5689-05T1
N.J.S.A. 2C:29-7, which proscribes a defendant's failure to
appear either in court or for service of a sentence, is
constitutional. Although a jury instruction in the language of
the second sentence of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-7 would impose an
unconstitutional burden upon a defendant to disprove the
"knowing" mental culpability element of the offense, this
constitutional defect can be avoided by a jury instruction that
omits any reference to a defendant having the burden to prove
that his failure to appear was "not knowingly."
