The precise question is whether those provisions apply to a defendant whose first Graves Act offense is the subject of his second Graves Act conviction. The majority in the Appellate Division, in an opinion reported at 214 N.J. Super. 430 (1986), upheld the trial court's imposition of an extended term, a result consistent with Statev. Windsor, 205 N.J. Super. 450 (Law Div. 1985).
The trial judge's three sentencing decisions in this case involved the same issue of Graves Act first or second offender status which has now been the subject of three reported opinions. State v. Windsor, 205 N.J. Super. 450, 501 A.2d 194 (Law Div. 1985); State v. Lightfoot, 208 N.J. Super. 475, 479, 506 A.2d 363 (App.Div. 1986), overruling State v. Windsor; and State v. Hawks, 114 N.J. 359, 554 A.2d 1330 (1989), overruling State v. Lightfoot, and affirming the Appellate Division decision in Hawks reported at 214 N.J. Super. 430, 519 A.2d 922 (App.Div. 1986), with the author of Windsor concurring, but with the author of Lightfoot dissenting. The trial judge in the case before us followed the then-existing case law in each of the three sentences he imposed on defendant.
Our courts have struggled with the chronological prerequisite of convictions for purposes of the mandatory extended term provisions of the Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c, 2C:43-7c and 2C:44-3d. In State v. Hawks, 214 N.J. Super. 430 (App.Div. 198 6) and State v. Windsor, 205 N.J. Super. 450 (Law Div. 1985) it was held that the chronology of the events and offenses was irrelevant so long as judgments were entered prior to the sentencing of the matter before the court. Prior to Hawks, State v. Windsor was overruled in State v. Lightfoot, 208 N.J. Super. 475 (App.Div. 1986) which also dealt with the mandatory extended term criteria under the Graves Act.