The Assembly Judiciary Committee took testimony on A4730 (Park)S3535 (Gopal), which would permit the admission of evidence of prior acts of domestic violence, child abuse, and sex offenses in prosecutions for those offenses. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is closely monitoring this legislation, which has drawn concerns from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Office of the Public Defender and at least one domestic violence prevention organization.
“Our position is that N.J.R.E. 404(b), as presently interpreted by decades of case law, already allows admission of these prior crimes whenever they are relevant to prove a material fact,” said Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti in a letter to sponsors.
Sellitti and others raised concerns with the prejudice resulting from admitting this evidence, potentially leading jurors to consider prior bad acts as proof of the propensity to commit the crime rather than whether they committed the actual crime they are charged with. Sellitti pointed out that the defendant’s right to a fair trial is paramount to admitting evidence that would lead jurors to perceive the defendant as a “bad person” in general.
“Admission of other crimes evidence in circumstances other than those allowed by N.J.R.E. 404(b) could undermine confidence in our criminal justice system and create an increased risk of wrongful convictions based on evidence of past crimes rather than evidence of the present offense.”
Advocates against domestic violence raised concerns that the bill would force survivors to participate with prosecutions. Another concern is language in the bill that would equate witnessing domestic violence with child abuse or maltreatment, which could also lead to charges of neglect for survivors of domestic violence. Questions arose as to whether the bill aims to admit convictions or any charge of abuse or neglect, the latter of which could lead to prejudicial evidence of often false claims of abuse, according to the advocates.
The NJSBA is reviewing this bill and monitoring its progress. The bill was up for discussion only and no vote was taken to move the bill out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Bill Mandating Bias Incident Investigation Standards Given Nod in Assembly Judiciary Committee
The Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously passed A1921(Park), which would codify the Attorney General’s guidelines on bias incident investigation standards. If enacted, the bill would mandate every county and municipal law enforcement agency to report all confirmed or suspected bias incidents through the Electronic Uniform Crime Reporting system within at least 24 hours from the initial law enforcement response.
Responding to Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn’s question on the necessity of the bill, Stephan Finkel of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General pointed out that the guidelines are working and the office wants to maintain “at least this level of standards.”
The bill also imposes requirements regarding bias incident response and investigation and sets forth procedures for the follow-up investigation of reported bias incidents.
Assemblywoman Ellen Park, chair of the committee and sponsor of the bill, highlighted the importance of maintaining transparency in accessing and tracking this information: "For me it’s very important that we ensure the future of bias crime reporting,” she said.
The NJSBA is closely monitoring these bills.