New Jersey S 3616: Establishes rebuttable presumption that person charged with motor vehicle theft be detained prior to trial; imposes mandatory sentencing for thefts involving motor vehicle.

Bill Text

SENATE, No. 3616  
 
STATE OF NEW JERSEY 
220th LEGISLATURE 
   
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 23, 2023 
 
 
Sponsored by: 
Senator  MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR. 
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland) 
 
 
 
 
SYNOPSIS 
 Establishes  rebuttable  presumption  that  person  charged  with  motor  vehicle 
theft  be  detained  prior  to  trial;  imposes  mandatory  sentencing  for  thefts 
involving motor vehicle.  
 
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT  
 As introduced. 
    

 
S3616 TESTA 
2 
 
 EXPLANATION – Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is 
not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law. 
 
 Matter underlined thus is new matter. 
AN ACT concerning pretrial detention and mandatory sentencing for 1 
certain  motor  vehicle-related  thefts  and  amending  N.J.S.2C:43-6 2 
and P.L.2014, c.31. 3 
 4 
 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 5 
of New Jersey: 6 
 7 
 1. Section  4  of  P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-18)  is  amended  to 8 
read as follows: 9 
 4. a.  (1)  The court may order, before trial, the detention of an 10 
eligible defendant charged with any crime, or any offense involving 11 
domestic  violence  as  defined  in  subsection  a.  of  section  3  of 12 
P.L.1991,   c.261   (C.2C:25-19),   enumerated   in   subsection   a.   of 13 
section  5  of  P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-19),  if  the  prosecutor  seeks 14 
the  pretrial  detention  of  the  eligible  defendant  under  section 5  of 15 
P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-19)  and  after  a  hearing  pursuant  to    that 16 
section  the   court   finds   clear   and   convincing   evidence  that   no 17 
amount   of   monetary   bail,   non-monetary   conditions   of   pretrial 18 
release  or  combination  of  monetary  bail  and  conditions  would 19 
reasonably assure the eligible defendant's appearance in court when 20 
required,  the  protection  of  the  safety  of  any  other  person  or  the 21 
community,  and  that  the  eligible  defendant  will  not  obstruct  or 22 
attempt to obstruct the criminal justice process. The court may also 23 
order  the  pretrial  detention  of  an  eligible  defendant  when  the 24 
prosecutor  moves  for  a  pretrial  detention  hearing  and  the  eligible 25 
defendant fails to rebut a presumption of pretrial detention that may 26 
be  established  for  the  crimes  enumerated  under  subsection  b.  of 27 
section 5 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2A:162-19). 28 
 (2) For purposes of ordering the pretrial detention of an eligible 29 
defendant  pursuant  to  this  section  and  section  5  of  P.L.2014,  c.31 30 
(C.2A:162-19)   or   pursuant   to   section   10   of   P.L.2014,   c.31 31 
(C.2A:162-24),  when  determining  whether  no  amount  of  monetary 32 
bail,  non-monetary  conditions  or  combination of  monetary  bail  and 33 
conditions    would    reasonably    assure    the    eligible    defendant's 34 
appearance  in  court  when  required,  the  protection  of  the  safety  of 35 
any  other  person  or  the  community,  or  that  the  eligible  defendant 36 
will not obstruct or attempt to obstruct the criminal justice process, 37 
the  court  may  consider  the  amount  of  monetary  bail  only  with 38 
respect  to  whether  it  will,  by  itself  or  in  combination  with  non-39 
monetary   conditions,   reasonably   assure   the   eligible   defendant's 40 
appearance in court when required. 41 
 b. Regarding  the  pretrial  detention  hearing  moved  for  by  the 42 
prosecutor, except for when an eligible defendant is charged with a 43 
crime set forth under paragraph (1) [or], (2), or (3) of subsection b.  44 

 
S3616 TESTA 
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of  section  5  of  P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-19),  there  shall  be  a 1 
rebuttable  presumption  that  some  amount  of  monetary  bail,  non-2 
monetary  conditions  of  pretrial  release  or  combination  of  monetary 3 
bail and conditions would reasonably assure the eligible defendant's 4 
appearance  in  court  when  required,  the  protection  of  the  safety  of 5 
any  other  person  or  the  community,  and  that  the  eligible  defendant 6 
will not obstruct or attempt to obstruct the criminal justice process.  7 
 c. An   eligible   defendant   may   appeal   an   order of   pretrial 8 
detention pursuant to the Rules of Court.  The appeal shall be heard 9 
in  an  expedited  manner.    The  eligible  defendant  shall  be  detained 10 
pending the disposition of the appeal. 11 
 d. If  the  court  does  not  order  the  pretrial  detention  of  an 12 
eligible defendant at the conclusion of the pretrial detention hearing 13 
under  this  section  and  section  5  of  P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-19), 14 
the court shall order the release of the eligible defendant pursuant to 15 
section 3 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2A:162-17). 16 
(cf: P.L.2014, c.31, s.4)  17 
 18 
 2. Section  5  of  P.L.2014,  c.31  (C.2A:162-19)  is  amended  to 19 
read as follows: 20 
 5.  a.  A prosecutor may file a motion with the court at