New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

The record clearly shows that the prosecutor would consent to defendant's admission into the PTI program only if defendant, as a condition of that disposition, would plead guilty to a third degree offense of resisting arrest. The prosecutor imposed that condition after defendant had initially been rejected as a candidate for PTI, and the trial court had upheld that initial rejection.... It is ... plain that the PTI Guidelines expressly forbid prosecutors from conditioning, whether formally or informally, a defendant's entry into the PTI program upon a plea of guilt to a criminal offense.... Consequently, the prosecutor's insistence in the present case on defendant entering into a guilty plea albeit a conditional one subject to being potentially vacated in the future upon successful completion of PTI was contrary to the program's statutory purpose and Guidelines. Having concluded that the guilty plea was improperly imposed as a condition of PTI admission, the question then becomes what remedy should be applied, beyond simply vacating that aspect of the plea agreement. Because more than a year has passed since the August 2008 disposition, it may very well be the case that defendant has already completed the PTI program successfully and that the guilty plea will be vacated anyway consistent with the negotiated agreement.... If, on the other hand, defendant has not yet completed PTI successfully, then further examination of the remedial options flowing from our determination of an invalid condition is warranted. Such an examination, if it proves to be necessary, should be conducted in the first instance in the trial court, subject to our potential review thereafter. In fashioning a remedy, the trial court shall ensure that defendant is not made worse off for having taken this meritorious appeal of the PTI issue."