Opinion
November 25, 2003.
A petition for certification having been filed seeking review of the judgment of the Appellate Division,
And defendant having argued, inter alia, that the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, should not apply to his conviction for second-degree robbery,
And the Court having determined that the circumstances presented herein do not establish the use of a deadly weapon as a predicate for NERA's application within the meaning of State v. Parolin, 171 N.J. 223, 231-32, 793 A.2d 638 (2002), because:
1. Being armed with a deadly weapon is one of the elements of first degree robbery and defendant was found not guilty of first degree robbery but was found guilty of second degree robbery; and
2. Defendant was found not guilty of second degree aggravated assault, which includes an attempt to cause serious bodily injury, but was found guilty of third degree aggravated assault;
And, therefore, in these circumstances the NERA predicates of use or threatened use of a deadly weapon and of attempt to cause serious bodily injury have not been found,
And good cause appearing;
IT IS ORDERED that defendant's petition for certification is granted, limited solely to a claim that NERA should not apply to his conviction for second-degree robbery; and it is further
ORDERED that the judgment of the Appellate Division in respect of that issue is summarily reversed, and the matter is remanded to the trial court for an amendment of the judgment of conviction to remove the NERA component of defendant's sentence for second-degree robbery.
Jurisdiction is not retained.
Chief Justice PORITZ and Justices LONG, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI, ALBIN and WALLACE join in this decision.
Justice VERNIERO did not participate.