State of New Jersey v. Nina N. Gonsalves, A-2653-23

Defendant Nina N. Gonsalves was charged and convicted after a jury trial for operating a motor vehicle while her license was suspended for a second or subsequent DUI offense under N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26(b).
The incident involved an accident where police responded, investigated, and determined Gonsalves was the driver, despite conflicting later statements from the passenger, Scott Luery, who initially told police Gonsalves was driving, but later claimed he was the driver.
Gonsalves moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing the prosecutor failed to present clearly exculpatory evidence (Luery’s statement) to the grand jury, and to suppress her pre-Miranda statements to police.
The trial court denied both motions and later sentenced Gonsalves to a three-year probation with the statutory mandatory 180 days in jail, highlighting both aggravating and mitigating factors.
On appeal, Gonsalves challenged the denial of her motions, the handling of Miranda warnings, and her sentence as excessive and based on legal error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Dismissal for Failure to Present Exculpatory Evidence to Grand Jury	Luery’s later recanting was not clearly exculpatory	Luery’s statement that he was driving was exculpatory	Prosecutor not required to present unreliable, non-clearly exculpatory evidence to the grand jury; denial affirmed
Motion to Suppress for Lack of Miranda Warnings	Routine accident investigation did not require Miranda	She was not free to leave, so Miranda was required	Miranda not required for routine, on-scene accident investigation; denial affirmed
Improper/Excessive Sentence	Sentence lawful, based on aggravating/mitigating factors	Mitigating factors undervalued, need-to-deter double-counted	Sentence was within statutory guidelines and properly explained; affirmed
Conviction Despite Conflicting Testimony	Jury found defendant guilty despite conflicting evidence	Conflicting evidence should have exonerated defendant	Petit jury’s verdict cures alleged errors in grand jury presentation

State v. Hogan, 144 N.J. 216 (N.J. 1996) (sets standard for prosecutor's duty to present clearly exculpatory evidence to the grand jury)
State v. Hyppolite, 236 N.J. 154 (N.J. 2018) (explains limited duty of prosecutor to provide exculpatory evidence to grand jury)
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (U.S. 1966) (establishes requirement for warnings before custodial interrogation)
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968) (sets standard for investigatory stops)