State v. Knight

Supreme Court of New Jersey

State v. Knight

369 A.2d 913, 72 N.J. 193, 1976 N.J. LEXIS 228

CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey

DecidedDecember 17, 1976

StatusPublished

Cited by14 cases

This text of 369 A.2d 913 (State v. Knight) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

State v. Knight, 369 A.2d 913, 72 N.J. 193, 1976 N.J. LEXIS 228 (N.J. 1976).

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Opinions

Per Curiam.

This appeal, brought here by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division, R. 2:2-1 (a) (2), raises only the question of the propriety of sentences of the defendant to State Prison on narcotics distribution and possession charges for aggregate terms of 5-7 years. The dispute in the Appellate Division was as to whether defendant, a 22 year old heroin addict never previously incarcerated, should more appropriately have been sentenced to the Youth Correctional Institution Complex (Yardville), for which he was eligible, than to State Prison.

We affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division for the reasons set forth in its opinion, 146 N. J. Super. 231, A. 2d (1975), supplemented by the following comments.

There is a wide area of discretion in the sentencing judge, and the sentence in the present instance might well, for the reasons set forth in Judge Botter’s dissenting opinion, have been appropriately made to Yardville. But sentence review in.this State is by no means a dé novo exercise of the [195]*195sentencing function by the appellate court. Only where the sentence is "manifestly excessive” should it be revised on appeal. State v. Bess, 53 N. J. 10, 18 (1968). By the same token, the choice of institution of incarceration by the sentencing judge should not be disturbed on appeal unless manifestly inappropriate or unsuited to the corrective purposes indicated by an appraisal of both the offender and the offense. See State v. Spinks, 66 N. J. 568, 575-576 (1975); State v. McBride, 66 N. J. 577, 580 (1975). The seriousness of two of the instant offenses — distribution of heroin — of itself would repel any notion of manifest inappropriateness of a sentence to State Prison therefor.

We note that although sentencing here took place prior to our decision in State v. McBride, supra, the sentencing judge in his written reasons for sentence met the spirit of the direction therein that all sentences of youthful offenders eligible for Yardville be to that institution or that the reasons for sentencing indicate why not, and why the sentence to State Prison is deemed more appropriate. 66 N. J. at 580-581.

Judgment affirmed.

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Per Curiam.

This appeal, brought here by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division, R. 2:2-1 (a) (2), raises only the question of the propriety of sentences of the defendant to State Prison on narcotics distribution and possession charges for aggregate terms of 5-7 years. The dispute in the Appellate Division was as to whether defendant, a 22 year old heroin addict never previously incarcerated, should more appropriately have been sentenced to the Youth Correctional Institution Complex (Yardville), for which he was eligible, than to State Prison.

We affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division for the reasons set forth in its opinion, 146 N. J. Super. 231, A. 2d (1975), supplemented by the following comments.

There is a wide area of discretion in the sentencing judge, and the sentence in the present instance might well, for the reasons set forth in Judge Botter’s dissenting opinion, have been appropriately made to Yardville. But sentence review in.this State is by no means a dé novo exercise of the [195]*195sentencing function by the appellate court. Only where the sentence is "manifestly excessive” should it be revised on appeal. State v. Bess, 53 N. J. 10, 18 (1968). By the same token, the choice of institution of incarceration by the sentencing judge should not be disturbed on appeal unless manifestly inappropriate or unsuited to the corrective purposes indicated by an appraisal of both the offender and the offense. See State v. Spinks, 66 N. J. 568, 575-576 (1975); State v. McBride, 66 N. J. 577, 580 (1975). The seriousness of two of the instant offenses — distribution of heroin — of itself would repel any notion of manifest inappropriateness of a sentence to State Prison therefor.

We note that although sentencing here took place prior to our decision in State v. McBride, supra, the sentencing judge in his written reasons for sentence met the spirit of the direction therein that all sentences of youthful offenders eligible for Yardville be to that institution or that the reasons for sentencing indicate why not, and why the sentence to State Prison is deemed more appropriate. 66 N. J. at 580-581.

Judgment affirmed.

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369 A.2d 913, 72 N.J. 193, 1976 N.J. LEXIS 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-knight-nj-1976.

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