STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. JOHN N. MAHONEY
A-5320-14T4
We granted leave to appeal from an order denying the
State's motion to preclude two deliberating jurors from
addressing the court at defendant's sentencing hearing. We
reversed and remanded for sentencing without input from the
jurors.
We held that a judge may not consider for sentencing purposes any comments from a deliberating juror to identify applicable aggravating or mitigating factors set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(a) and (b). Consequently, deliberating jurors are precluded from participating at a defendant's sentencing
proceeding. To allow juror participation would unnecessarily
create a substantial risk of distracting the jurors from their
primary purpose – serving as judges of the facts – and would
indubitably undermine the sanctity of the jury's deliberative
process in our system of jurisprudence.
