STATE OF NEW JERSEY IN THE INTEREST OF Z.S., A JUVENILE (FJ-17-0013-20, SALEM COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-3516-19T1)
This interlocutory appeal concerns the appropriate procedures under the current statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-26.1, for evaluating whether a juvenile charged with a very serious offense should be waived to the Criminal Part and prosecuted as an adult.
On leave granted, the juvenile in this case, defendant Z.S., appeals the Family Part judge's order sustaining a prosecutor's decision to waive him to the Criminal Part to face a jury trial for committing first-degree aggravated sexual assault upon a minor.
The court vacates the trial judge's order because of several critical deficiencies in the processes that resulted in Z.S.'s waiver. Among other things, the prosecutor's written statement of reasons in support of waiver was incomplete, conclusory, and utilized obsolete 2000 guidelines that do not track the controlling factors under the revised 2016 waiver statute.
In addition, the prosecutor failed to explain in writing in advance of the waiver hearing why the extensive mitigating psychological evidence marshalled by the defense, documenting Z.S.'s intellectual disabilities and mental health issues, was inconsequential.
The trial judge also misapplied his discretion by declining to adjourn the waiver hearing at defense counsel's request, with the State's acquiescence, after she had been released from the hospital for pneumonia only two days earlier and was still feeling ill and having difficulty breathing.
Because of these grave procedural shortcomings, the court remands this matter for a renewed waiver hearing. The opinion also offers guidance on how best to proceed in such waiver matters under the revised 2016 statute.
