Defendant injected himself with fentanyl-laced heroin, lost control of an SUV he had been driving, his vehicle crashed into a gas station, and tragically killed three persons and injured others. He pled guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(a), and was sentenced to an aggregate prison term of thirty years, with the requirement that he serve over twenty-five years before he is eligible for parole.
Defendant appeals from the denial of his motion to suppress and his sentence. He argues that the warrantless search of his clothes, conducted at a hospital over an hour after his arrest, was unlawful, and that he is entitled to a resentencing. The court holds that the search of his clothes was a lawful search incident to his arrest. The court also holds that the sentencing court conducted the appropriate analysis and did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to three consecutive prison terms of ten years for the death of each victim. Accordingly, the court affirms defendant's convictions and his sentence.
