STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. KASSEY BENJAMIN A-1569-13T3

STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. KASSEY BENJAMIN
          A-1569-13T3

In this Graves Act case the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. The court held that defendant should be given the opportunity to pursue an Alvarez motion; i.e. whether the State's decision to not consent to a waiver was arbitrary and discriminatory. The court was persuaded defendant was denied a full and fair opportunity to pursue the Alvarez motion because the State claimed it did not maintain, and thus could not produce, other case files involving waiver decisions despite the Attorney General's Directive requiring the retention of all such files. 
The court held that hereafter the State shall be required to provide, in writing, the reasons for a denial of a waiver similar to the requirement for PTI decision in order to promote procedural fairness and to ensure meaningful judicial review.