State v. BriggsState v. Briggs
Defendant entered a guilty plea to aggravated manslaughter,
The record presented to us reveals that defendant and her ex-husband, Gary Robinson, had an argument in the couple‘s bedroom after having bеen out together on New Year‘s Eve. Both had been drinking all night and were intoxicated. During the argument, there was some pushing and shoving, and Robinson stated that he was leaving. Defendant then left the bedroom, retrieved a knife from the kitchen, and stabbed Robinson once in the chest, piercing his heart.
Defendant immediately called 911, and after the police arrived, she was arrested. Robinson died shortly after arriving at the hospital. In her statement to the police, taken several hours after her arrest, defendant stated:
I was just trying to threaten him, you know.... Then I went into the room... and I stabbed him, I didn‘t knоw I stabbed him.... [Robinson then] said baby you stabbed me, and then I called 911, and I didn‘t mean to stab him.... I can‘t believe I did it.
Defendant was examined on behalf of the defense by Dawn M. Hughes, Ph.D., Daniel Greenwald, M.D., and a probation officer. All three agreed that defendant never intended to kill Robinson, that she has beеn abused since early childhood, and that for the past twenty-years she was the victim of Robinson‘s physical and mental abuse. The doctors’ evaluations detail the defendant‘s emotional state and mental health background, and both give a complete
Under Middlesex County Indictment No. 99-02-0122-I defendant was charged with purposeful and knowing murder,
At sentencing, defense counsel acknowledged that she was restricted from arguing for a sentence of any term less than the amount called for under the plea agreement. However, she asked the court to find applicable ten of the twelve mitigating factors under
In sentencing defendant to an eighteenyear custodial term with an eighty-five percent period of parole ineligibility under NERA, the trial court found two aggravating factors: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense,
I
Thеre is no question that “a trial is unfair if the accused is denied counsel at a critical stage of his trial.” United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 659, 104, S.Ct. 2039, 2047, 80 L.Ed.2d 657, 668 (1984). The assistance of counsel “has been understood to mean that there can be no restrictions upon the function of counsel in defending a criminal prosecution....” Herring v. New York, 422 U.S. 853, 857, 95 S.Ct. 2550, 2553, 45 L.Ed.2d 593, 598 (1975). In Herring, for examрle, the United States Supreme Court struck down a state law which prohibited defense counsel from summing up in a nonjury trial, reasoning that the statute deprived defendants of effective advocacy. It imposed a per se rule against such a restriction even though some cases “may appear to the trial judge to be simple— open and shut—at the close of the evidence.” Id. at 863, 95 S.Ct. at 2556, 45 L.Ed.2d at 601; see also State v. Fusco, 93 N.J. 578, 586-87, 461 A.2d 1169 (1983) (holding that an order prohibiting a defendant from discussing his testimony with counsel during an overnight recess violated defendant‘s right to assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment and our own constitution,
In our view, the ability of counsel to provide a meaningful argument at sentencing, even in a case that appears “open and shut,” is no less important than the opportunity to give a summation in a nonjury case. Sentencing hearings under the Criminal Code “are crucial stages of a trial for which counsel must be available.” State v. Giorgianni, 189 N.J.Super. 220, 230, 459 A.2d 1189 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 94 N.J. 569, 468 A.2d 212 (1983). As in any stage of the proceeding, circumstances must not be such that counsel “is prevented from making effective preparations” and a meaningful presentation to the court. Ibid. It is at this point that counsel has the opportunity to make a vigorous argument regarding mitigating and other circumstances, hoping to personalize defendant in order to justify the least severe sentence under the Criminal Codе.
Consequently, there can be no doubt that a defense attorney must have an unfettered right to argue in favor of a lesser sentence than that contemplated by the negotiated plea agreement. Sentences imposed upon defendants who have engaged in pleа agreements must still comport with the strictures of the Criminal Code and be supported by competent credible evidence. State v. Sainz, 107 N.J. 283, 292, 526 A.2d 1015 (1987); State v. O‘Connor, 105 N.J. 399, 405-08, 522 A.2d 423 (1987). Even if the sentence adheres to the negotiated plea and the statutory guidelines, the sentence may still not be sustainable if it is “clearly unreasonable sо as to shock the judicial conscience.” State v. Roth, 95 N.J. 334, 364-65, 471 A.2d 370 (1984).
We recognize that, despite the fact that the defense counsel was prohibited from “request[ing] a sentence of less than twenty years” during the sentencing proceeding she focused on defendant‘s tragic life, particularly the psychological and physical abuse suffered by her at the hands of the victim. She also stressed the applicability of ten of the twelve mitigating factors. We also recognize that the trial court in fact imposed a base term of eighteen years, two years less than the term called for under the plea agreement.
However, counsel did not advance any argument that, because of the preponderance of mitigating factors, a sentence substantially lower than the presumptive term of twenty years was merited in this case. See
Moreover, the restriction may well have deterred counsel from arguing that defendant was a candidate for a downgraded sentence under
Nevertheless, defendant was entitled to an effective and forceful argument to thе trial court by her counsel, stressing that the nature of and relevant surrounding circumstances pertaining to the offense and the “facts personal to defendant” justified invocation of the downgrading provision. Megargel, supra, 143 N.J. at 500-01, 673 A.2d 259. In short, we cannot say with confidence that the restriction upon defense counsel did not affect her ability to present a cogent and meaningful argument at sentencing. Nor should we speculate that, had such an argument been advanced, the trial court would nevertheless have rejected it.1
Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing.
II
On remand, the trial court should reconsider mitigating factors two, four, five, eleven and twelve under
the same factоrs that would impact on the mitigating circumstance [mitigating factor two] I find would also not support the request for factors three and four.
I did consider those factors, however, in making a determination under another mitigating circumstance.
As to the remaining factors that have been alleged to exist in this case in way of mitigation, again, I am not satisfied from my review of this case that those factors have been established, and therefore, I do not make those findings.
In stating that it had considered “those factors ... in making a determination under another mitigating circumstance,” the trial court presumably was referring to the fact that it had found that mitigating factor eight applied, that is, defendant‘s conduct was a result of circumstances unlikely to recur. In so finding, the court indicated that it had reviewed the psychological reports and had concluded that defendant‘s history of abuse was “intrinsic to this defendant and to the nature of her relationship with this particular victim, her husband.”
We recognize that an appellate court should not second-guess a trial court‘s findings as to aggravating and mitigating factors if they are supported by sufficient evidence in the record. State v. Kromphold, 162 N.J. 345, 355, 744 A.2d 640 (2000). However, we are not sure whether the trial court, in rejecting the mitigating factors advanced by defense counsel, considered defendant‘s troubled youth as well as the continuous physical, sexual and psychological abuse committed by the victim upon her as described in the psychiаtric reports. Both experts who examined defendant found she suffered from post-traumatic distress disorder, consistent with and related to “severe and chronic”
The trial court should also reconsider whether aggravating factors one and nine apply.
The trial cоurt also found, without explanation that the aggravating factor under
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.