Opinion ID: 2313020
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Did the defendant's plea to murder establish death-eligibility under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c?

Text: Following oral argument, the parties briefed an issue that has arisen consequent to our decision in State v. Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. 40. In Gerald the Court traced the inclusion in 2C:11-3 of the pre-Code offense of second-degree murder death arising from the intentional infliction of serious bodily injury on the victim, as a form of murder, but not capital murder. The Court is convinced, some members for differing reasons, that the Legislature never intended that capital sentencing be imposed on a defendant unless the defendant had the purpose or knowledge of a killer. See id. at 89-90. In order to establish death-eligibility, we required the jury to determine that the defendant had the knowledge or purpose to kill and not merely to inflict serious bodily injury that resulted in death. Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 69-91. The Court held that the contrary interpretation, that execution could result from an unintended homicide, would render the statute unconstitutional under New Jersey's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Id. at 89. In order to conform with what we believe to be certain legislative intent and constitutional principle, the jury's verdict must establish that the accused had the knowledge or purpose to kill. In this case, the defendant pled guilty to an indictment that alleged the crime of murder in violation of 2C:11-3. That indictment was similar to the one in Gerald insofar as it embodied two forms of murder, one capital and the other non-capital. There are two aspects then to the question: (1) was the plea entered with understanding of its consequences?; and (2) does the plea establish death eligibility? Generally, a person pleading to a charge must be made specifically aware of all of the penal consequences of the plea. State v. Howard, 110 N.J. 113 (1988) (prior to acceptance of guilty plea, defendant must be informed of the possibility of sentence to adult diagnostic and treatment center and parole consequences thereof); State v. Kovack, 91 N.J. 476 (1982) (prior to acceptance of a guilty plea, defendant must be informed of the possibility of parole ineligibility). In this case, there can be no doubt that defendant was aware that a sentence of death was a possibility. Nor does it appear from the record that misinformation directed to the defendant directly induced him to enter the plea, thus warranting that he be allowed to withdraw. Cf. State v. Nichols, 71 N.J. 358 (1976) (defendant allowed to withdraw his guilty plea where his counsel, the State, and the trial court misinformed him concerning a material element of his plea bargain). It is obvious from the plea transcript that the only information directed to defendant related to the strategic decision to plead guilty. Defendant was asked whether he realized that he was giving up his right to contest the charges: You are giving up all these rights in exchange for what you might call a strategy to permit us to argue and to plead before the jury, a fresh jury, who has not heard your contesting the crimes that you have been charged with, contesting your guilt, to permit a fresh jury to hear, to understand that you have admitted these things forthrightly and that what you are doing now is to demonstrate to them why they should spare your life. Do you understand that? Moreover, ordinarily a voluntary plea of guilty intelligently made in the light of the then applicable law does not become vulnerable because later judicial decisions indicate that the plea rested on a faulty premise. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 757, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 1473, 25 L.Ed. 2d 747, 761 (1970); see also United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 757, 102 L.Ed. 2d 927 (1989) (double jeopardy claim could not be used to attack plea collaterally). But a strong argument can be made that a capital plea like a capital verdict must have been entered in contemplation of all available verdicts. See State v. Moore, supra, 113 N.J. 239 (capital defendant is entitled to have jury charged on lesser-included offenses). How can a plea be knowing if the defendant does not know the offense to which he is pleading? For a plea to be valid, all material terms and relevant consequences [must] be clearly disclosed, fully understood, and knowingly and voluntarily accepted by the defendant. State v. Warren, 115 N.J. 433, 444 (1989) (emphasis added); see State v. Taylor, 80 N.J. 353, 362 (1979). Concededly, defendant was not aware of the distinction between the two forms of murder embraced by 2C:11-3, and was not given to understand the consequences of the distinctions. Should he have fully understood the Gerald distinction? Of course, full understanding has not always been equated with foreknowledge of changes in the law that might take place, supra at 367, but we have held that with respect to the death penalty, and changes within only a three-year period that affect its imposition, it is both unjust, and probably outside of the Legislature's intent, not to give those previously tried the benefit of provisions intended to have been in the law in the first place. [ State v. Biegenwald, supra, 106 N.J. at 66-67 (holding that defendant was entitled to charge that aggravating factors must outweigh mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt).] To test whether another verdict should have been available, we might ask whether a court could have refused to submit the serious bodily injury form of murder to the jury. Given the normative role of the jury in capital cases and our insistence that juries consider all verdicts that have a rational basis in the evidence, State v. Crisantos (Arriagas), 102 N.J. 265 (1986), a jury undoubtedly would have had to consider serious-bodily-injury murder as an available verdict. Cf. State v. Hunt, 115 N.J. 330 (1989) (failure to give a separate serious bodily injury charge was harmless error under the narrow circumstances of that case, in which the defendant was no longer eligible for the death penalty and would receive the same sentence even if he had been found guilty of the lesser serious bodily injury form of murder). We note that the argument loses strength in the face of the strategic purpose of this plea. He pled guilty assuming that, because of his admission of guilt, the sentencing jury would be more likely to find him remorseful, and thus less-deserving of a death sentence. Without commenting on the wisdom of that choice, it is not possible to foreclose the possibility that the strategic considerations would have been different if he had known of the other available verdict. Beyond this aspect of the plea, the question that remains is: does the plea itself establish death-eligibility? The difficulty with this case is not only in the defendant's awareness of the material terms and penal consequences of the plea, but also in the sufficiency of the plea itself. The plea establishes that the defendant is guilty of murder as charged in Count I of the indictment. That count charged defendant with purposely or knowingly caus[ing] the death of or serious bodily injury resulting in the death of Barbara Blomberg. (Emphasis added). As State v. Gerald establishes, the second form of murder alleged in the indictment is non-capital murder. Under Rule 3:9-2 a capital defendant pleading guilty is not required to supply a factual basis for the charge, although a sufficient factual basis is still a prerequisite to acceptance of the plea. Had the plea transcript specifically and unequivocally established that the defendant had either the knowledge or purpose to kill his victim, the case might be closed. However, the plea transcript reiterated the defendant's statements in his confession, and later in his trial testimony, that he did not go in that apartment with the idea or intention to kill her, but he did in fact    commit those acts. The State argues with force that there is but one possible meaning to defendant's actions  that he had knowingly or purposely caused Barbara's death. The State points to the savage and deliberate nature of the attack: the premeditated placing of the electrical appliance cord about his neck as he mounted the stairs, the isolation of the victim by cutting the telephone wires, the deliberate mutilation of her body by countless slashings with the knife and screwdriver. All of these bespeak not an intention to inflict bodily harm but to kill. It cannot be doubted that a jury could so find, and in some instances we have concluded that there was no possibility that the jury's verdict was premised on an intent to cause only bodily injury that resulted in death. In State v. Pitts, 116 N.J. 580 (1989), the Court examined the jury's verdict, the trial strategy of the defendant, and the evidence, and concluded that the verdict established with an abiding certainty that defendant had intended death only, and that the jury had made that finding in the face of a plea that the defendant's rage should mitigate the offense. A plea, however, is very different in both substance and procedure from a jury verdict. While a jury's guilty verdict will be upheld as long as there are sufficient facts from which a reasonable jury might conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the act charged, State v. Martinez, 97 N.J. 567 (1984), in New Jersey a guilty plea to a non-capital charge cannot be accepted unless the defendant acknowledges his guilt. R. 3:9-2; see State v. Reali, 26 N.J. 222 (1958); State v. Sands, 138 N.J. Super. 103 (App.Div. 1975), affirmed on other grounds, 76 N.J. 127 (1978). Although Rule 3:9-2 waives the requirement that defendants charged with capital crimes supply the factual basis, that Rule is designed only to avoid forcing the defendant to say anything that might support an aggravating factor. Comment, Trial Judges Committee on Capital Causes, reprinted in S. Pressler, Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey 533 (1989). Furthermore, the Rule preserves the factual-basis requirement even though waiving the requirement that the defendant supply it. While the factual-basis requirement might be waivable where a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser-included offense in order to avoid the death penalty, ibid., a factual basis for a capital conviction cannot be sufficient when defendant's statements in support of his plea contradict the required intent. The problem in this case is that although there may be sufficient facts available to support a finding that the defendant knowingly and purposefully murdered, his statements contradict any such finding. This case may illustrate some need for revisions in the current format for accepting pleas in capital cases. The prior version of New Jersey's capital-punishment law permitted a defendant to avoid the death penalty by entering a non vult or nolo contendere plea to murder. N.J.S.A. 2A:113-3, repealed by L. 1978, c. 95, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. A non vult or nolo contendere plea did not require an admission of guilt. Alternatively, one convicted of first-degree murder was automatically sentenced to death unless the jury recommended mercy. N.J.S.A. 2A:113-4, repealed by L. 1978, c. 95, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. This type of statute, which placed a heavy toll on the decision to contest one's guilt at trial, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570, 88 S.Ct. 1209, 20 L.Ed. 2d 138 (1968), as violating the right to trial by jury. As a result, this Court invalidated the prior death-penalty statute and commuted all outstanding death sentences imposed under it. State v. Funicello, 60 N.J. 60 cert. denied, 408 U.S. 942, 92 S.Ct. 2849, 33 L.Ed. 2d 766 (1972). When the current version of the death penalty was passed, the problem arose concerning how a defendant choosing to plead guilty could supply a factual basis for his plea, as required for all guilty pleas, without prejudicing his chances at the penalty phase. The Trial Judges Committee on Capital Causes proposed our current Rule, which is a variant on the ordinary non-capital plea procedure. As previously noted, a factual basis is required to be established, but it need not come from the defendant's admissions at the plea proceedings. R. 3:9-2. The anomaly that was carried forward from pre- Jackson/Funicello law, that a defendant need not admit or supply the factual basis for a capital plea, however, may be misplaced. The purpose of a non vult or nolo contendere plea was to enable the defendant to avoid exposure to the death penalty, not to simplify exposure to the death penalty. Obviously, a capital defendant should not be disadvantaged by a plea requirement that he or she furnish the factual basis for the plea. But trial courts must be assured that the plea distinctions to be made between capital and non-capital murder are adequately set forth in the plea record. Trial counsel should not be subjected to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel if these proceedings are restricted in scope. At present, a defendant's statements in support of a non-capital guilty plea are inadmissible at trial only if the plea is refused by the court, R. 3:9-2, or if it is withdrawn after acceptance. See State v. Boone, 66 N.J. 38 (1974). No Rule or case addresses the question whether, under 2C:11-3, statements furnishing a factual basis for a capital guilty plea are admissible at the penalty phase. However, the current provision in Rule 3:9-2 permitting the capital defendant to plead guilty without furnishing statements in support of a factual basis was intended to avoid this problem. See Trial Judges Committee on Capital Causes, supra. In light of the requirements noted in establishing the basis for a capital plea, perhaps this Rule could be revised to require the defendant to supply the factual basis, but precluding the subsequent use of such statements at the penalty phase. We need also consider the use of such statements to attack the defendant's credibility. Cf. New Jersey v. Portash, 440 U.S. 450, 99 S.Ct. 1292, 59 L.Ed. 2d 501 (1979) (defendant's compelled grand jury testimony cannot be used against the defendant at a subsequent trial even if only to impeach credibility); Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed. 2d 1247 (1968) (statements made by defendant to support a suppression motion cannot be used at trial on the issue of guilt); State v. Petrovich, 125 N.J. Super. 147 (Law Div. 1973) (prohibiting the use of defendant's suppression hearing testimony as substantive evidence of guilt, but allowing its use to attack defendant's credibility if it conflicts with defendant's testimony at the subsequent trial). There are many subtle and complex issues that are to be resolved in fashioning a plea process tailored to capital cases. We shall refer the question to our Trial Judges Committee on Capital Causes for further consultation with prosecution and defense bars concerning any recommended amendments. In the meantime, trial courts must be assured that the plea distinctions to be made between capital and non-capital murder are adequately set forth in the plea record. Although this defendant's statements at the plea hearing may not directly contradict a finding that he knowingly and purposely intended to kill, we cannot conclude that the plea here establishes that required intent. As noted, the defendant pled guilty as a strategic device. His plea does not establish more than that he pled guilty to a single indictment charging him with two alternative forms of murder, one capital and the other noncapital. The plea colloquy with the defendant was: THE COURT: Mr. Davis, it has been indicated that you desire at this time to retract any former plea of not guilty and enter a plea of guilty to Counts One, Two, Three and Four of Indictment 4391-83B, is that correct? THE WITNESS: Yes. THE COURT: Do you understand that the First Count charges on or about January 17, 1983, in Buena Borough you did purposefully or knowingly cause the death of or serious bodily injury resulting in the death of Barbara Blomberg, and that you committed the homicidal act by your own conduct, this being a charge of murder. Do you understand that? [Emphasis added.] As we now know, there was more than enough evidence to establish death eligibility under Gerald, but not all this evidence was part of the plea record. The most damaging evidence, the piercing cross-examination of defendant about having stabbed her aiming at the heart and liver, was not part of the plea record. (The plea record included defendant's confession and the autopsy report, not the statement to the police that was used to impeach defendant at trial.) The defendant was not informed of the level of intent required to establish death-eligibility. Although, by itself, this might not pose a problem if the defendant had admitted an intention to kill, see supra at 370, it is not possible, given the timing of the Gerald decision and the absence of a factual finding by the court accepting the plea, to distinguish what form of murder the plea established. In State v. Gerald , we held that a jury verdict that did not distinguish between the two forms of murder could not establish death-eligibility. This plea does not distinguish between the two forms of murder. It does not establish death eligibility. On remand, further proceedings must conform to State v. Gerald . If the defendant does not plead to capital murder, the guilt phase of the capital murder charge must be retried from the beginning. Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 92.