Opinion ID: 2060551
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Question Presented

Text: The question that the majority asks is whether a conviction of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a (possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose) may be based on either the intent to injure the person or the property of another. The answer to that question is simple. It may be either. Hence, the majority reasons that the intent to injure the person of another is not an essential element of the offense. That, however, is not the question in this case. The question in this case is how, in the language of the Graves Act, is one convicted under 2C:39-4a of possession of a firearm with intent to use it against the person of another. By its framing of the issue, the majority avoids this central point in the case. That point is that the Graves Act, in setting forth the criteria for its applicability, creates a symmetry between N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a and the other nine crimes, conviction of which brings the Graves Act into play. That symmetry is created by the first sentence of N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(a). That sentence provides that a minimum jail term will be imposed on (a) a person who has been convicted under 2C:39-4a of possession of a firearm with intent to use it against the person of another or of a crime under any of [nine enumerated criminal statutes] while in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, including the immediate flight therefrom, used or was in possession of a firearm. [ N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c (emphasis added).] The reason for the distinct treatment of 2C:39-4a is to harmonize it with the nine other predicate offenses for Graves Act sentencing so that each essentially involves the common feature of a crime against a person. In order to convict a defendant under 2C:39-4a, a jury must conclude that a defendant possessed a weapon, but a jury need not consider the use or possession of a weapon or firearm in order to convict under any of the other nine crimes (murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, robbery, burglary, or escape) that bring the Graves Act into play. Although burglary and escape are not always crimes against the person, the attendant danger to persons is surely the wellspring of concern for Graves Act sentencing. To repeat, the question is not whether one must commit a crime against a person in order to be convicted under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a. Rather, the question is how is one convicted of a crime against the person of another. Our State and Federal Constitutions guarantee criminal defendants the right to have juries decide whether those defendants deserve to be convicted. U.S. Const. amend. VI; N.J. Const. art. 1, para. 10. The majority should not waste the Appellate Division's efforts, both in this case and in State v. Latimore, 197 N.J. Super. 197, 221, 484 A. 2d 702 (1984), to uphold those rights.