New Jersey v. C.H.

Defendant was charged under separate indictments for multiple charges involving misconduct with two minors, D.H. and D.M. Defendant was arrested on November 19, 2009, and was confined until sentencing, which took place on August 22, 2012. In total, defendant spent 1007 days in pre-sentence custody. Defendant was sentenced on both indictments on August 22, 2012. For the aggravated sexual assault conviction, the court sentenced defendant to ten years imprisonment subject to an 85 percent parole ineligibility period. For the endangering the welfare of a child conviction, the court sentenced defendant to a concurrent term of three years imprisonment. The court applied 1007 days of jail credit to the sentences imposed under one of the indictments. The jail credits applied to the terms of imprisonment and to defendant's parole ineligibility period. In this appeal, the issue this case presented for the Supreme Court was whether a defendant who was simultaneously sentenced to consecutive sentences on two separate indictments was entitled to the application of jail credit against both indictments. The Court held that a proper application the controlling caselaw entitled defendant to only 1007 total days of jail credit. Nothing warranted the application of double jail credit. "Instead, defendant's sentences should be viewed together and jail credit applied to the front end of the aggregate imprisonment term for both indictments." View "New Jersey v. C.H." on Justia Law