In these two appeals from orders of detention pursuant to the Criminal Justice Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 to -26 (the CJRA), the Law Division revoked defendants' pretrial release for violations of conditions.
In White, although defendant received notice that the hearing on the State's motion to revoke would occur on a different date, the judge refused to grant a short extension of the hearing when defendant appeared in court so defendant could call a witness and produce other evidence. The panel concluded the judge mistakenly exercised his discretion and reversal was required because the denial of the adjournment was prejudicial to defendant's ability to rebut the State's proffered evidence of a violation.
In Bostic, defendant was immediately arrested when he reported for the first time to Pretrial Services. The State alleged defendant violated conditions of his release, specifically leaving his home and entering a "victim exclusion zone" for one minute. The Law Division judge revoked defendant's release.
The panel reversed, concluding there was no authority for defendant's immediate arrest, because he committed no new offense and the court had issued no warrant for his arrest based upon alleged violations of conditions. The panel also concluded the State failed to prove by preponderance of the evidence that defendant knew the parameters of the victim "exclusion zones," or that his failure to remain in his home, when specifically ordered to report to Pretrial Services, was a violation of his conditions of release.