Opinion ID: 1934331
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: nwobu

Text: Daniel Nwobu is in his early thirties. In 1991 a Bergen County Grand Jury charged him with second-degree theft by deception. The indictment alleged that over approximately a six-week period, he stole and forged checks totalling more than $75,000 from his employer, Simon & Schuster, a major publishing company. After arraignment, he applied for entry into the Bergen County PTI. The PTI director denied the application. He set forth the following reasons for that denial: (1) Defendant failed to offer any compelling reasons to overcome the statutory presumption against pretrial intervention for second-degree offenders; (2) the prosecutor did not support defendant's PTI application; (3) defendant's conduct was part of a continuing pattern of anti-social behavior; and (4) admission into PTI would fail to serve as a sufficient sanction or deterrent. Defendant appealed to the Law Division, pursuant to PTI Guideline 8 of Rule 3:28, for an order requiring reconsideration of the application or mandating defendant's admission into PTI. The Bergen County Prosecutor wrote a brief letter to defendant's attorney informing him that he opposed defendant's entry into PTI. The letter stated: The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has carefully considered the [PTI] application of [Nwobu]. We regret to inform you that this office opposes your client's entry into the program for the same reasons as previously stated by the [PTI] Director, Howard Williams. Pending further information, the trial court ordered the prosecutor's office to reevaluate and reconsider defendant's PTI application and submit a written report to the court. The Prosecutor's office simply replied that the State's position remained unchanged. On April 30, 1993, the trial court ordered that defendant be admitted into PTI. However, because the court knew that the State would appeal, it stayed its ruling pending completion of a written opinion. In its written decision on August 5, 1993, the court found that the prosecutor's denial of defendant's application for PTI was a patent and gross abuse of discretion because the prosecutor failed to provide a particularized statement of reasons regarding the rejection of defendant from PTI. The trial court held that it was inappropriate for the Prosecutor's Office to justify its decision by simply referring to the reasons offered by the PTI director. It stayed further prosecution. On August 18, 1993, the State moved for leave to appeal from the trial court's order. However, at that time, the State did not seek a stay of defendant's participation in PTI. The Appellate Division granted the State's motion on September 22, 1993. Not until December 20, 1993, did the State request that the trial court stay defendant's participation in PTI pending the appeal. The trial court denied that request. After he successfully completed his six-month PTI term, defendant sought to dismiss the State's appeal as moot, fundamentally unfair, and in violation of his double-jeopardy rights. The Appellate Division refused to dismiss the appeal. On the merits of the appeal, it held that the prosecutor's reliance on the PTI director's reasons to deny defendant's admittance into PTI was proper as long as the reasons given by the PTI director were valid. Finding the prosecutor's reasons valid, it reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case for further criminal proceedings. We granted defendant's motion for leave to appeal the Appellate Division's decision.