State v. Shaquille A. Nance; State v. Taja L. Willis
Bolton; State v. Alvin D. Williams
(A-47/48/49-15; 076626)
Section 6.2 was misapplied in defendants’ sentencing proceedings and therefore defendants should be resentenced. The assignment judge, not the sentencing judge, has the authority to decide whether a defendant will be sentenced to a term of probation or a term of incarceration with a one-year period of parole ineligibility. If the defendant has been convicted of a first-degree or second-degree Graves Act offense, the assignment judge (or designee) must consider the presumption of incarceration prescribed by N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(d) when he or she chooses between the probationary and one-year mandatory minimum sentences envisioned by section 6.2.
