State v. A.M.
| Decision Date | 02 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | DOCKET NO. A-3010-20 |
| Citation | 472 N.J.Super. 51,275 A.3d 30 |
| Parties | STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. A.M., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
Alison Gifford, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Alison Gifford, of counsel and on the brief).
John McNamara, Jr., Chief Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Robert J. Carroll, Morris County Prosecutor, attorney; John McNamara, Jr., on the brief).
Before Judges Fasciale, Vernoia and Firko.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
VERNOIA, J.A.D.
A.M. suffers from end-stage multiple sclerosis
, a progressive condition that renders her physically incapable of conducting any activities of daily life and requires twenty-four-hour daily medical care. After serving eight years of her forty-year sentence for the murder of her husband, she petitioned for release on parole to a medical facility pursuant to the Compassionate Release Act (CRA), N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e.
Subsection (f)(1) of the CRA authorizes a court to grant a petition for release on parole where there is clear and convincing evidence the inmate suffers from a "permanent physical incapacity" rendering the inmate "permanently physically incapable of committing a crime if released" and the conditions "under which the inmate would be released would not pose a threat to public safety." N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(f)(1). Here, the court conducted hearings, determined A.M. satisfied the permanent physical incapacity and public safety requirements, but denied her petition based on its conclusion N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(f)(1) vested it with discretion to do so.
A.M. appeals from the denial of her petition. She argues N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(f)(1) does not vest a court with any discretion and the statute mandates that a court grant a petition for release on parole under the CRA if it finds, as the court did here, there is clear and convincing evidence an inmate suffers from a qualifying permanent physical incapacity and does not pose a threat to public safety. We agree and reverse the court's order denying A.M.’s petition.
To place the issues presented by A.M.’s petition for release on parole under the CRA in context, we first summarize the history and requirements of the statute, which became effective on February 1, 2021. L. 2020, c. 106, § 1 (codified at N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e ). Prior to the CRA's enactment, the Parole Act of 1979 (the Parole Act), N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.45 to -123.76, vested the State Parole Board with the authority to grant what was characterized as "medical parole," see N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c (repealed by L. 2020, c. 106, § 3). Under N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c, the State Parole Board was authorized to grant medical parole to prison inmates diagnosed with "a terminal condition, disease or syndrome or a permanent physical incapacity" that caused an inmate to be "so debilitated or incapacitated ... as to be physically incapable of committing a crime if released on parole and, in the case of a permanent physical incapacity, the conditions under which the inmate would be released would not pose a threat to public safety."2 N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c(a)(2) (repealed 2020).
The medical parole statute detailed procedures for submission of a request for medical parole and for the State Parole Board's consideration of the request. See N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c(a)(2), (a)(3) and (b)-(d) (repealed 2020). The statute excluded certain inmates from eligibility for medical parole; those serving sentences for certain offenses, including murder under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, were not eligible for medical parole. N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c(a)(3) (repealed 2020).3
In a 2019 report, the New Jersey Criminal Sentencing & Disposition Commission (the Sentencing Commission) recommended replacing medical parole under N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51c with a new "release mechanism," which the Sentencing Commission "called [c]ompassionate [r]elease," providing for the "prompt release" of prison inmates "suffering from a terminal condition or permanent physical incapacity." New Jersey Criminal Sentencing & Disposition Commission, Annual Report: November 2019 30 (2019). The Sentencing Commission found the medical parole statute was rarely used in part because "by the time an inmate qualifies for release, he or she is too ill to take the necessary steps to complete the process." Id. at 32.
The Sentencing Commission recommended the Legislature establish standards for compassionate release similar to those under the medical parole statute but with different procedural mechanisms intended to accelerate the decision-making process. Ibid. The Sentencing Commission "believe[d]" its recommendation, if adopted, "would likely increase the number of ill patients released from custody, and would result in significant cost savings for" the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Id. at 33.
The Legislature accepted the Sentencing Commission's recommendation and enacted the CRA, which, as noted, became effective on February 1, 2021. L. 2020, c. 106, § 1. The CRA eliminated the State Parole Board's authority to grant medical parole, and "empowered courts to grant qualifying inmates ‘compassionate release’ regardless of their parole-eligibility date." F.E.D., 469 N.J. Super. at 50, 261 A.3d 990. The CRA generally "retains the medical-parole statute's criteria for release, but it adopts procedures to hasten decision-making." Ibid. The CRA also eliminates the medical parole statute's disqualification of inmates based on the crimes for which they are serving sentences. Ibid. Thus, inmates serving sentences for any crime in our Criminal Code, including murder, are eligible for release under the CRA. See N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e.
The CRA details the process required for the submission of, and consideration of, a request for compassionate release. See State v. Chavies, 247 N.J. 245, 261, 254 A.3d 589 (2021) (). The CRA further defines the duties, responsibilities, and roles of the Department of Corrections, the State Parole Board, and the courts in the process. N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e.
Under the CRA, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections is required to "establish and maintain a process by which an inmate may obtain a medical diagnosis to determine whether [he or she] is eligible for compassionate release." N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(b). The diagnosis must be "made by two licensed physicians designated by the [C]ommissioner" of the Department of Corrections, N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(b), and it must "include ... a description of the" inmate's "terminal condition, disease or syndrome, or permanent physical incapacity," "a prognosis concerning the likelihood of recovery," "a description of the inmate's physical incapacity, if appropriate," "and a description of the type of ongoing treatment that would be required if" release is granted. N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(b)(1)-(4).
An initial medical diagnosis of a grave medical condition does not render an inmate eligible to file a petition for compassionate release. A petition cannot "be filed until a subsequent medical diagnosis determines that the inmate is suffering from a terminal condition, disease or syndrome, or a permanent physical disability as defined in" the CRA "and the Department of Corrections issues to the inmate a Certificate of Eligibility for Compassionate Release." N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(d)(1).
The CRA defines a "[t]erminal condition, disease[,] or syndrome" as a "prognosis by the licensed physicians designated by the Commissioner ... that an inmate has six months or less to live." N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(l). A "[p]ermanent physical incapacity" is defined as "a prognosis by the licensed physicians designated by the Commissioner ... that an inmate has a medical condition that renders the inmate permanently unable to perform activities of basic daily living, results in the inmate requiring [twenty-four]-hour care, and did not exist at the time of sentencing." Ibid.
An inmate to whom a Certificate of Eligibility for Compassionate Release is issued "may petition the court for compassionate release," N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(d)(2) ; see also N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(f)(2) (), and a "request [for] representation from the Office of the Public Defender" for that purpose, N.J.S.A. 30:4-123e(d)(3). The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections must ensure that any inmate who applies for compassionate release is also provided an opportunity to apply for Medicaid benefits and assistance when completing the application. N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51e(h).
An inmate opting to petition for compassionate release must serve a copy of the petition on the agency — either the county prosecutor or the Attorney General's Office — that prosecuted the case for which the inmate is serving his or her sentence. N.J.S.A....
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State v. A.M.
...make greater use of compassionate release. Absent any such circumstances, petitions for relief should be granted. *In the first appeal, State v. A.M., the record does present extraordinary aggravating circumstances. The Court therefore modifies and affirms the Appellate Division's judgment ......