Case Name: STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. DALE A. YOTHERS, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT
Court: New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Decision Date: 1995-06-15
Citations: 282 N.J. Super. 86
Docket Number: 
Parties: STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. DALE A. YOTHERS, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
Judges: 
Reporter: New Jersey Superior Court Reports
Volume: 282
Pages: 86–106

Head Matter:
659 A.2d 514
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. DALE A. YOTHERS, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division
Argued April 12, 1995
Decided June 15, 1995.
Skillman, J.A.D., filed dissenting opinion.
Before Judges SHEBELL, SKILLMAN and WALLACE.
Charles M. Ouslander argued the cause for appellant (Maryann K. Bielamowicz, Mercer County Prosecutor, attorney; Loni M. Hand, Mr. Ouslander, of counsel, and on the brief).
Jacqueline E. Turner, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for respondent (Susan L. Reisner, Public Defender, attorney; Ms. Turner, of counsel, and on the brief).
Catherine A. Foddai, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause Amicus Curiae (Deborah T. Poritz, Attorney General, attorney; Ms. Foddai, of counsel, and on the brief).

Opinion:
The opinion of the court was delivered by
SHEBELL, P.J.A.D.
This case involves the limited issue of whether the death penalty may be imposed for purposely or knowingly causing serious bodily injury resulting in death where the offense occurred after adoption of the State constitutional amendment declaring such punishment not cruel and unusual punishment, but before the amendment of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3 to expressly provide that SB I murder may support a death sentence. We conclude that it may not, and affirm the order under review.
The double homicide in question occurred on the morning of February 1, 1,993. On March 18, 1993, the police arrested defendant, Dale A. Yothers, and his roommate, Christopher Walsh Jr., in connection with the slayings. While in custody, defendant admitted his involvement and asked for the death penalty.
On September 17, 1993, defendant and Walsh were charged in an indictment with attacking, robbing, and killing the two victims on February 1, 1993. At defendant's arraignment, the State served him with notice of aggravating factors weighing in favor of imposing the death penalty. See R. 3:13-4. On February 27, 1995, immediately before the commencement of jury selection, the State requested that the trial judge instruct prospective jurors that a defendant may be found guilty of capital murder for either purposely or knowingly causing death or for purposely or knowingly causing serious bodily injury (SBI) resulting in the death of another. The judge, reasoning that the statutory amendment was not in effect at the time of the homicides, refused to instruct the jury that capital punishment could be imposed for purposely or knowingly causing SBI resulting in death. We granted the prosecutor's request for a stay and for leave to appeal. This expedited appeal followed.
In State v. Gerald, 113 N.J. 40, 549 A.2d 792 (1988), a case in which the evidence supported a conviction for either purposeful or knowing murder (hereinafter intentional murder) or purposeful or knowing infliction of serious bodily injury resulting in death (hereinafter SBI murder), the Supreme Court held that capital punishment for SBI murder was unconstitutional, as violative of the New Jersey Constitution's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. Id. at 89, 549 A.2d 792.
Relying on the statements of Senator John Russo, the chief sponsor of the death penalty statute, the Court also noted that the legislative history of the statute indicated that those found guilty of SBI murder were not intended to be eligible for the death penalty. Id. at 89-90, 549 A.2d 792. Contrary to the dissent's assertion that the Court's analysis of the legislative history was intended to legitimize the Court's narrowing of the statute, the Court referenced the legislative history to demonstrate that a narrow, constitutional interpretation of the statute was consistent with the Legislature's intent. Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 91, 549 A.2d 792.
Prior to enactment, Senator Russo stated that the statute was not intended to be as broad as capital legislation in other states, in that "[i]t does not cover as many people as some of the other [states'] legislation does." Capital Punishment Act: Hearings on S. 112 Before the Senate Judiciary Committee (1982) at 1. Senator Russo explained that the statute required separate guilt and penalty phases, and that the defendant only faces death penalty proceedings after having been "found guilty unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt of first degree murder, wilfull, premeditated murder." Id. (emphasis added). Senator Russo also stated, "[t]he bill deals with a conviction of first degree murder," id. at 2, and expressed his intent to draw the act as "tight" and "limited" as possible, id. at 30. The Senate Judiciary Committee Statement to S-112 (1982) provided that "only a person who actually commits an intentional murder would stand in jeopardy of the death penalty." Similarly, the statement accompanying Assembly Bill No. 771, 1982 (identical to Senate Bill No. 112, which ultimately became the death penalty statute) stated: "Pursuant to the provisions of the bill, anyone who 'purposely' or 'knowingly' commits murder would stand in jeopardy of the death penalty." The death penalty act also stiffened the punishment for non-capital murders by imposing a mandatory minimum thirty-year sentence without parole. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3b.
Gerald noted that the legislative history was consistent with New Jersey's former death penalty statute, under which only those who committed intentional murder, felony murder, or murder of a law enforcement official were eligible for the death penalty. Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 90, 549 A.2d 792. Under the former statute, if the defendant only intended to cause serious bodily injury, the person was guilty of second-degree murder and was subject only to a prison term. State v. Ramseur, 106 N.J. 123, 388-89, 524 A.2d 188 (1987) (Handler, J., dissenting) (citing State v. Thomas, 76 N.J. 344, 387 A.2d 1187 (1978); State v. Madden, 61 N.J. 377, 294 A.2d 609 (1972); State v. Anderson, 35 N.J. 472, 497, 173 A.2d 377 (1961); State v. Wynn, 21 N.J. 264, 121 A.2d 534 (1956)). Therefore, the legislative statements, made in connection with the 1982 enactment, indicating that the death penalty applies to "intentional murder" and first-degree murder no doubt referred to situations where the defendant intended to cause death.
Senator Russo's 1982 statements are consistent with remarks he made following Gerald in connection with proposed legislative action to overturn Gerald. At a July 10, 1989 public hearing concerning a proposed amendment to the Constitution to declare application-of the death penalty to SBI murders not cruel and unusual punishment, Senator Russo made the following statements:
We said, if you intended to commit murder you are now subject to execution Ü.
[W]e came to the conclusion, right or wrong—some feel it should have gone further, some, of course, feel it shouldn't have gone that far—that unless you intended to commit murder, you won't be subject to that greater penalty of death. That was a judgment made by this Governor, by myself as sponsor, and in its message by the majority of the Legislature in both parties, overwhelmingly. [Public Heating Before the Assembly Judiciary Committee oti Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 147, July 10, 1989, at 21.]
[T]he legislative history that's quoted in the court's opinion is what the Governor and I specifically and carefully in our comments publicly outlined that we intended the death penalty to apply to.
[T]he Governor and his staff, and my staff and I intended only to apply the death penalty where one intended the result. It may be that there's an amendment necessary, to clarify our intent at the time, but not [the proposed amendment to the Constitution], And that was in every public statement.
But the thing I'm trying to emphasize is, that at no time did we intend—other than the actual perpetrator or that the perpetrator who actually does it, also must have intended death.
[Id. at 22.]
My opposition to this is consistent with the view I've had from the beginning; that the death penalty should only apply to one who intends to commit murder.
The Committee Statement does say—we're referring to the Committee Statement to the Death Penalty Bill—that it only applies to those who intended murder.
Id. at 23-24.]
At a May 26, 1992 public hearing on the constitutional amendment, Senator Russo again stated:
In New Jersey, as you know, there is no such thing as recorded sessions and things of that sort, so legislative intent is generally difficult. So 1 am basically giving you my recollection, what my intent was as sponsor, and my discussions with the Governor, Governor Kean at the time. It was always—it was always—my intent as sponsor, and Governor Kean's, that the death penalty in New Jersey would be applied in only those unusually savage and severe murder cases where the defendant intended the death of his victim.
5-« #
That is what I understand Governor Kean had m mind, and that is what I understand that most of the legislature was voting on.
[Public Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee on Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 20, May 26, 1992, at 8-9.]
Senator Bubba, who voted for the death penalty in 1982 and who favored applying the death penalty to SBI murders at that time, also agreed that the 1982 act only applied to intentional murders. Id. at 40. Although not dispositive, it is clear that legislative statements made subsequent to legislation shed light on legislative intent. State v. Bey, 112 N.J. 45, 97 & n. 32, 98, 548 A.2d 846 (1988).
We are mindful that the Supreme Court stated in Gerald that "Lt]he death-penalty statute clearly exposes to the death penalty one who purposely or knowingly causes serious bodily injury resulting in death." Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 71, 549 A.2d 792. Certainly this statement was consistent with the plain language of the statute, which prior to amendment read:
a. * " " [C]riminal homicide constitutes murder when:
(1) The actor purposely causes death or serious bodily injury resulting in death; or
(2) The actor knowingly causes death or serious bodily injury resulting in death
-k -¡i -i*
c. Any person convicted under subsection a.(l) or (2) who committed the homicidal act by his own conduct or who as an accomplice procured the commission of the offense by payment or promise of payment, of anything of pecuniary value shall be sentenced fin accordance with the Act's capital punishment provisions] - *
[N.J.S.A. 20:11-3 (emphasis added).]
"[Hjomicidal act" was not defined. This apparent death penalty-exposure, however, seems to have been inadvertent and not representative of the intent of the Legislature. It no doubt resulted from the adoption of the death penalty statute after the Code by engrafting the death penalty provisions onto the murder statute. See Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 89, 549 A.2d 792.
Following Gerald, the Supreme Court held in several capital cases involving vicious murders that it was possible that the jury could have found that the defendant only intended to inflict serious bodily injury. Since these cases were tried prior to Gerald, no distinction was made between SBI and intentional murder, and therefore several death penalty sentences were set aside. The constitutional amendment was proposed to prevent defendants from avoiding the death penalty for heinous murders in cases where it is difficult to prove an intentional killing as opposed to intent to cause serious bodily injury that results in death. Public Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee on Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 20, May 26,1992, at 4-6, 37, 39, 42; Public Hearing Before Assembly Judiciary Committee on Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 20, March 16, 1992, at Appendix 1-6.
The constitutional amendment was approved by the voters and took effect on December 3, 1992. Following passage of the amendment, the death penalty statute was amended effective May 5,1993 to define "homicidal act" as: "conduct that causes death or serious bodily injui'y resulting in death." N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3i. The Statement of the Assembly Judiciary accompanying the May 5, 1993 amendment states:
Therefore, in order to clarify legislative intent and thereby avoid additional judicial construction that might narrow the scope of the law to comport with the court's view of the legislative intent, this bill would amend New Jersey's death penalty statute to clearly state that the term "homicidal act" means conduct that causes "death or serious bodily injury resulting in death." This amendment clarifies that the Legislature's intent regarding the category of homicides eligible for the death 'penalty has remained consistent since the effective date of P.L.1982, c 111 which added subsection c. and other subsections to N.J.S.2C 11-3, the current capital punishment statute.
[Statement of the Assembly Judiciary, Law & Public Safety Committee, No. 2113, L. 1993, c. 111 (emphasis added).]
A November 25, 1992 letter from Attorney General, Robert J. Del Tufo, in response to Governor Florio's request for advice with respect to the need for further legislation to implement the constitutional amendment, states that "[w]hile implementing legislation is not essential, clarification of the Legislature's intent in enacting the death penalty statute is advisable if we are to ensure that the constitutional decision of the people of this State is given full effect." The Attorney General noted that the court held in Gerald, that its decision "comport[edJ with the Legislature's intent in restoring the death penalty." (Quoting Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 89, 549 A.2d 792.) Thus, the Attorney General suggested that it was "desirable for the Legislature to restate its intention to subject persons convicted of this form of murder to the death penalty. Such action would serve to retract any remaining invitation for judicial construction that could narrow the law to comport with the Court's view of the Legislature's intent."
After enactment of the amendment to the death penalty statute, the Governor's Office issued the following statement:
"Last November, the citizens of New Jersey spoke out on an issue that concerns us all. They wanted to be sure that vicious killers who cause a death face the possibility of death themselves, so they amended the state Constitution to make that intent crystal clear. We're here today to carry out their will," said Governor Florio.
"This new law ensures that our statutes are consistent with the constitution and it reflects our belief as a society that there are crimes so heinous, so depraved, that people who commit them forfeit their own claims on life," said the Governor.
The law clarifies the intent of the death penalty law in accordance with a constitutional amendment approved by the voters last November. Following its passage, Governor Florio directed Attorney General Robert Del Tufo to take immediate steps to ensure the proper implementation of the amendment, which led to the legislation signed by the Governor. "
Under the current law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty only in cases where an intent to kill can be demonstrated.
[ (Emphasis in the original.) ]
Based on the legislative history and the statements accompanying the bills, we are persuaded that the death penalty statute enacted in 1982 was intended to apply only to intentional murders. Contrary to the dissent's assertion that the legislative history is ambiguous and unenlightening, we have not been presented with a single piece of legislative history that indicates otherwise. Therefore, it is only following the legislative amendment in May 1993 that SBI murders clearly became capital crimes.
We do not question the logic or authority for the dissenter's position. He makes a strong technical argument for his view. However, in the context of the imposition of the death penalty, we would find it abhorrent to disregard the available evidence of the Legislature's intent merely to preserve strict legal principles of construction. See State v. Bey, supra, 112 N.J. at 100, 548 A.2d 846 (rejecting State's argument that legislative intent is unimportant "so long as its 'choice of language' brings the instant facts within the reach of the statute").
The State nonetheless argues that adoption of the constitutional amendment declaring imposition of the death penalty not cruel and unusual punishment as applied to SBI murders immediately validated the death penalty statute and exposed SBI murderers to the death penalty from that time forward without the need for further legislation to implement the change. We reject this view.
A constitutional amendment was necessary after the Gerald decision if any legislative amendment to the death penalty statute to include SBI murders was to withstand constitutional attack. Once the constitutional amendment removed the constitutional prohibition, further legislation was required to make the death penalty statute applicable to SBI murder because the death penalty statute, as it stood upon enactment in 1982, did not apply to SBI murders. Therefore, the change did not become effective until May 5, 1993 when the legislative amendment was signed into law.
Penal statutes and their penalties must be strictly construed. In re Suspension of DeMarco, 83 N.J. 25, 36, 414 A.2d 1339 (1980); State v. Valentin, 105 N.J. 14, 17-18, 519 A.2d 322 (1987). "Where more than one reasonable interpretation may be made, construction should be drawn against the State." DeMarco, supra, 83 N.J. at 40, 414 A.2d 1339 (citations omitted) (Schreiber, J., dissenting). Accord State v. Biegenwald, 96 N.J. 630, 640, 477 A.2d 318 (1984); Valentin, supra, 105 N.J. at 18, 519 A.2d 322.
The question ultimately is one of fairness, given the statute and its provisions, and given the situation of the defendant. Should he have understood that his conduct was proscribed, should he have understood that the penalty about to be imposed was the sanction intended by the legislature?
[DeMarco, supra, 83 N.J. at 37, 414 A.2d 1339.]
The strict construction rule also guards against imposition, by judicial construction, of punishment not intended by the legislature. See Sutherland Statutory Construction, § 59.03, at 105 (1992); DeMarco, supra, 83 N.J. at 37, 414 A.2d 1339.
In re DeFalco, 9 N.J. 236, 87 A.2d 707 (1952), is the only New Jersey case that squarely addresses the issue of validation of unconstitutional statutes by constitutional amendment. The Constitution originally provided that the penalty for bookmaking was a fine and imprisonment and that the legislature was not empowered to diminish the penalty. A subsequent statute provided that the penalty for bookmaking was a fine or imprisonment. Subsequent to enactment of the statute, the Constitution of 1947 was adopted containing no limitation on the Legislature's power to diminish penalties. Subsequently, defendant was convicted of bookmaking and sentenced to a fine and a prison term. Defendant challenged his sentence on the ground that the sentence was contrary to the current statute, which provided for imposition of a fine or imprisonment. The Court held that the statute was invalid when enacted because it diminished the penalty for bookmaking in violation of the constitution then in effect. The court held that the adoption of the new constitution, which granted the Legislature authority to diminish the penalty, did not validate the previously unconstitutional statute. Id. at 240, 87 A.2d 707. The Court held:
A statute which is unconstitutional at the time of enactment does not acquire a valid status simply by reason of a subsequent amendment to the basic charter or by the adoption of a new one. In Washington Nat'l Insur. Co. v. Board of Review, 1 N.J. 545 [64 A.2d 443] (1949), we said: "the constitutional validity of legislation in this regard is to be measured by the organic law in force when the legislation was adopted, except to the extent that the later constitution is made retroactive
[Id. (emphasis added).]
The Court noted: "There is nothing in the provisions of the 1947 Constitution to give it the retroactive force here contended for." Id. Likewise, in the present case, there is nothing in the constitutional amendment as adopted by the voters which dictates that it served to validate the death penalty for SBI murder without the need for legislative action.
In State v. John Dow, No. 93-07-1182 (Law Div. August 18, 1994), the judge addressed the same question presented in this case. He determined that SBI murderers became eligible for the death penalty on May 5, 1993, the date of the enactment of the legislative amendment to the death penalty statute. The judge noted that generally constitutional amendments act prospectively and that generally a constitutional amendment will not act to validate previously invalid statutes. Id. at 18. With regard to whether the amendment was self-executing, the judge held:
In the present case, it is apparent from the limitation imposed by Gerald and addressed by the constitutional amendment that the amendment indicates a line of policy to be followed; however, it does not set out any means by which to implement this principle. The amendment only provides guidance as to what the Constitution will allow in the way of future laws. The Legislature is empowered to execute this policy through legislative directives.
[Id. at 20-21.]
. Most courts recognize that in limited circumstances a constitutional amendment may validate previously unconstitutional legislation. The key factor is the existence of a clear intent to validate the existing legislation. For example in Bonds v. State Dept. of Revenue, 254 Ala. 553, 49 So.2d 280 (1950), the court held that a constitutional amendment proposed in 1949 and adopted to validate an earlier 1949 statute that was clearly unconstitutional at the time of enactment, could "by the use of express and clear terms validate and confirm an act of the legislature previously enacted but invalid on account of failure to observe provisions of the State Constitution." Bonds, supra, 49 So.2d at 282. Similarly, in Porto Rico Brokerage Co. v. United States, 71 F.2d 469 (C.C.P.A.1934), cert. denied, 298 U.S. 671, 56 S.Ct. 936, 80 L.Ed. 1394 (1936), the court suggested that a previously unconstitutional statute may be validated by constitutional amendment, without subsequent legislation, if the amendment clearly reveals an intent to validate the earlier legislation. Id. at 470-72. Accord State ex rel. Miller v. Board of Education, 212 Kan. 482, 511 P.2d 705, 710 (1973) (intention has important bearing in determining whether a constitutional provision is self-executing); State ex rel. Nixon v. Belt, 873 S.W.2d 644, 647 (Mo.App.Ct.), overruled on other grounds, 887 S.W.2d 397 (Mo.1994) (constitutional provisions self-executing where there is manifest intention that they go into immediate effect); 16 Am.Jur.2d Constitutional Law § 65, at 383-84 (1979); cf. People ex rel. McClelland v. Roberts, 148 N.Y. 360, 42 N.E. 1082 (Ct.App.1896); Kayden Indus., Inc. v. Murphy, 34 Wis.2d 718, 150 N.W.2d 447 (1967).
Constitutional amendments can validate previously unconstitutional statutes if there is a clear intent to do so. Inasmuch as the purpose of the 1992 constitutional amendment was to overturn Gerald, and to make SBI murder a capital offense, we believe that if the original death penalty statute clearly exposed SBI homicides to the death penalty, the constitutional amendment would have served to validate the statute and to make it effective at the date the amendment was approved by the voters. That, however, is not the situation here. At the time the constitutional amendment was adopted, the statute did not clearly expose SBI murders to the death penalty. The Senate Judiciary Committee Statement accompanying the 1982 death penalty statute and other legislative history makes this clear. Absent contrary evidence, the court must assume that the Legislature adopted the intent of the Judiciary Committee. See Sutherland, supra, § 48.06, at 332-33.
Following Gerald, the constitutional amendment was necessary to allow the statute to be extended to SBI homicides. Once the constitutional amendment was approved, it was necessary for the Legislature to implement the change. The Legislature could not alter the original intent of the statute by merely proposing the constitutional amendment; the original intent remained until the statute was amended by the Legislature. Protection Mutual Insur. Co. v. Kansas City, 504 S.W.2d 127 (Mo.1974) (absent legislative act amending statute, original intent governs); Axe Science Corp. v. Commonwealth, 6 Pa.Cmwlth. 103, 293 A.2d 617, 620 (1972) (original legislative intent stands until further legislative action); see Sutherland, supra, § 48.10, at 343. The purpose of placing the amendment before the voters was to remove the constitutional impediment, it did not in itself amount to legislative action amending the existing statute.
The order under review is affirmed. The matter is remanded for further proceedings.
At the time of Senator Russo's comments, the Code had done away with the former first and second degree murder classifications.
See State v. Coyle, 119 N.J. 194, 208-12, 574 A.2d 951 (1990); State v. Davis, 116 N.J. 341, 374-75, 561 A.2d 1082 (1989); State v. Jackson, 118 N.J. 484, 572 A.2d 607 (1990); State v. Pennington, 119 N.J. 547, 560-65, 575 A.2d 816 (1990); State v. Long, 119 N.J. 439, 460-64, 575 A.2d 435 (1990); State v. Haney, 121 N.J. 407, 414, 581 A.2d 483 (1990).
"[Ajbsent contrary legislative history, a clear statement in the principal committee report is powerful evidence of legislative purpose and may be given effect even if it is imperfectly expressed in statutory language." Sutherland, supra, § 48.06, at 332 (citing Miller v. Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Comm'n, 687 F.2d 194 (7th Cir.1982)).