Opinion ID: 1903342
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Charges, Trial and Appeal.

Text: On April 10, 2000, a Hudson County Grand Jury returned a four-count indictment charging R.B. with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a (count one); second-degree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2b (count two); second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a (count three); and the disorderly persons offense of child abuse, N.J.S.A. 9:6-1 and 9:6-3 (count four). On January 29, 2002, before empanelling the jury, the trial court conducted a hearing pursuant to N.J.R.E. 104 to consider the admissibility of both C.R.'s statements to his mother and to the SAVA Unit under the tender years exception to the hearsay rule, as provided by N.J.R.E. 803(c)(27), and R.B.'s post-arrest statement to the police. After a full examination, the trial court ruled the three statements admissible. Trial commenced the next day and continued until February 8, 2002, when the court declared a mistrial as a result of a hung jury. At the second trial, which started on May 7, 2002, R.B.'s defense, other than his cross-examination of the prosecutions proofs, consisted of one character witness. On May 9, 2002, the jury returned guilty verdicts against R.B. on all four counts of the indictment. When R.B. was sentenced on September 3, 2002, the trial court merged the conviction for second-degree sexual assault (count two) into the first-degree aggravated sexual assault conviction (count one), and the disorderly persons offense of child abuse conviction (count four) into the second-degree endangering the welfare of a child conviction (count three). On the merged sexual assault charges, R.B. was sentenced to eighteen years incarceration with a nine-year period of parole ineligibility; on the endangering the welfare of a minor merged charges, R.B. was sentenced to seven years incarceration with a three-year period of parole ineligibility. The trial court ordered the separate terms of incarceration to run consecutively, resulting in an aggregate twenty-five year term of imprisonment with a twelve-year period of parole ineligibility, and the assessment of an aggregate of $2,180 in penalties. Before the Appellate Division, R.B. attacked both his convictions and sentence. The Appellate Division affirmed R.B.'s convictions, but remanded for the imposition of concurrent terms on the merged charges. We granted certification. 178 N.J. 454, 841 A. 2d 92 (2004). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division.