Opinion ID: 2786653
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A person is guilty of the crime of bias

Text: intimidation if he commits, attempts to commit, conspires with another to commit, or threatens the immediate commission of an offense specified in chapters 11 through 18 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes; N.J.S. 2C:33-4; N.J.S. 2C:39-3; N.J.S. 2C:39-4 or N.J.S. 2C:39-5,
individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; or
constituting the offense would cause an individual or group of individuals to be intimidated because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; or
victim of the underlying offense to be intimidated and the victim, considering the manner in which the offense was committed, reasonably believed either that (a) the offense was committed with a purpose to intimidate the victim or any person or entity in whose welfare the victim is interested because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity, or (b) the victim or the victim’s property was selected to be the target of the offense because of the victim’s race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity. 19 Generally, bias intimidation is punishable by a sentence one degree higher than the underlying crime that forms the basis for the bias-intimidation charge. N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1(c). In this case, the underlying charges were the petty disorderly persons’ offenses of harassment by communication and alarming conduct. N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4(a), (c). Harassment is punishable by a sentence not to exceed thirty days’ imprisonment. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-8. However, when the victim of the harassment is subjected to bias intimidation, a fourth-degree crime has been committed, N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1(c), and the crime is punishable by a sentence not to exceed eighteen months’ imprisonment, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(a)(4). Under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1, a defendant commits bias intimidation when he acts “with a purpose to intimidate” or with “knowledge” that his conduct will intimidate a person based on an immutable characteristic, such as a person’s race or color. Those state-of-mind requirements are the traditional means of determining criminal liability. United States v. Bailey, 444 U.S. 394, 402-04, 100 S. Ct. 624, 630-31, 62 L. Ed. 2d 575, 586-87 (1980). Unlike subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2), subsection (a)(3) focuses not on the state of mind of the accused, but rather on the victim’s perception of the accused’s motivation for committing the offense. Thus, if the victim reasonably believed that the defendant committed the 20 offense of harassment with the purpose to intimidate or target him based on his race or color, the defendant is guilty of bias intimidation. N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1(a)(3). Under subsection (a)(3), a defendant may be found guilty of bias intimidation even if he had no purpose to intimidate or knowledge that his conduct would intimidate a person because of his race or color. In other words, an innocent state of mind is not a defense to a subsection (a)(3) prosecution; the defendant is culpable for his words or conduct that led to the victim’s reasonable perception even if that perception is mistaken.