Opinion ID: 1536017
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 26

Heading: Cruel and Unusual Punishment and Proportionality Review

Text: Defendant contends that a sentence of death constitutes a disproportionate and excessive punishment, violating the federal and state constitutional guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. We adhere to our decision in Ramseur, supra, 106 N.J. at 190, 524 A. 2d 188, in which we rejected arguments that the statute violated the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article 1, paragraph 12 of the New Jersey Constitution. We, however, note and preserve defendant's challenge to the proportionality of his death sentence and will conduct the proportionality review of his sentence, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3e, in a separate proceeding.