The court addressed the arson statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1, and the rule against multiplicity, which prohibits the State from charging a defendant with multiple counts of the same crime, when that defendant's alleged conduct would only support a conviction for one count of that crime. The court held that when a defendant sets one fire, it is improper for the State to charge that defendant with multiple counts of arson based on the number of victims who were endangered by the fire. The court affirmed defendant's conviction for one count of second-degree arson, and for that conviction, the court affirmed the extended term sentence of twenty years subject to the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2. The court reversed defendant's remaining ten arson convictions and vacated the sentences imposed for those convictions.
