STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. RODNEY J. MILES
A-2692-12T1
The defendant was arrested during an undercover drug
operation. Defendant was charged on a warrant with possession
of a CDS with intent to distribute on or near school property.
Defendant was also charged on a summons with a disorderly
persons offense of possession of marijuana.
After defendant was indicted, he appeared pro se in
municipal court via video conference after being incarcerated
for a family matter. The disorderly persons drug offense, which
was not joined with the indictable offense, was pending.
Without the presence or participation of the State, but in
accord with the existing "practice," the judge amended the
offense to loitering and then took a plea from defendant.
Predicated upon his plea, defendant sought to bar the
prosecution of the indictable charge.
The court held that the subsequent prosecution and conviction on the indictable charge was barred under the "same evidence" test which is still recognized under state constitutional principles. The court reasoned that the "fundamental fairness" doctrine did not apply, notwithstanding the State's failure to join the disorderly offense with the indictable charges and defendant's reasonable expectation that his plea to the disorderly offense charge resolved all charges which arose out of his arrest.
The court held that the subsequent prosecution and conviction on the indictable charge was barred under the "same evidence" test which is still recognized under state constitutional principles. The court reasoned that the "fundamental fairness" doctrine did not apply, notwithstanding the State's failure to join the disorderly offense with the indictable charges and defendant's reasonable expectation that his plea to the disorderly offense charge resolved all charges which arose out of his arrest.
