Bill > S3986

Introduced Session

This bill provides that juvenile defendants who voluntarily elect to be tried as adults shall have the same procedural rights as juvenile defendants who are involuntarily waived by the prosecutor from the Family Part to the Criminal Part of the Superior Court. A juvenile may voluntarily choose to be tried as an adult as part of a plea agreement, or if the juvenile insists on a trial by jury. Under current law, in cases in which a prosecutor seeks to have a juvenile tried as an adult, the juvenile still retains some of the rights afforded by the New Jersey Code of Juvenile Justice, such as the right to be housed in a juvenile facility if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, the right to seek remand of the case back to the Family Part if it is in the interests of justice, and, except for certain violent crimes, the right to have the case remanded back to the Family Part for sentencing after conviction. However, it is not clear whether a juvenile who voluntarily chooses to be tried as an adult retains those same rights. In addition to clarifying the rights of juvenile defendants, this bill requires the court to determine that an election by a juvenile to be tried as an adult is made knowingly, willingly, and voluntarily, given the differential treatment under the law between juveniles adjudicated delinquent and adults convicted of crimes. As part of making that determination, the court would be required to conduct a hearing during which the juvenile would be informed of the differences in sentencing or disposition between adults and juveniles for the offenses charged.

Committee Categories

Patrick Diegnan (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 06/20/2023)

Official Document