Defendant was charged with first-degree murder, two weapons offenses, and hindering apprehension. Tried to a jury, defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of second-degree passion-provocation manslaughter, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and not guilty of hindering apprehension. The trial court found aggravating factors one, three, four, and nine, N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(a)(1), (3), (4), and (9), and mitigating factor seven N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(b)(7), but rejected mitigating factor nine, N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(b)(9). Following merger of the weapons counts, he was sentenced to a nine-and-one-half-year term, subject to the parole ineligibility and parole supervision imposed by the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2.
The court addressed the judicial factfinding undertaken by the trial court as part of its sentencing analysis. The court concluded that the trial court's findings regarding the degree of provocation and sufficient time to cool off before delivering the fatal blows were contrary to the jury's verdict and violated the doctrine of fundamental fairness.
The court also held that aggravating factor four applies to a defendant taking "advantage of a position of trust or confidence" relating to the victim "to commit the offense," not to a minor's subsequent participation in an attempted coverup of the homicide.
The court also addressed the need for a trial court to provide a detailed explanation of how it reconciles its application of aggravating factor three and mitigating factor seven, the weight assigned to those factors, and how those factors are balanced with respect to a defendant who had no prior juvenile or criminal history and no subsequent criminal history in the decade that elapsed before his arrest.
The court vacated defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing, directing the trial court to not consider whether defendant was adequately provoked or had adequate time to cool off before inflicting the fatal blows, to not apply aggravating factor four, and to apply mitigating factor fourteen. The court further directed that the trial court reconsider whether aggravating factor three applies and if so, the weight to be given to it.
