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State v. Milne12/3/2002
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
Argued: October 30, 2002
This case involves defendant's claim for post-conviction relief. R. 3:22. He asserts that under the version of N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2, the "diminished capacity" defense, in force at the time of his trial in 1987, he was denied due process of law when convicted of knowing and purposeful murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, for a crime committed in 1985. At that time in 1987 N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2 stated:
2C:4-2 Evidence of mental disease or defect admissible when relevant to element of the offense.
Evidence that the defendant suffered from a mental disease or defect is admissible whenever it is relevant to prove that the defendant did not have a state of mind which is an element of the offense. In the absence of such evidence, it may be presumed that the defendant had no mental disease or defect which would negate a state of mind which is an element of the offense. Mental disease or defect is an affirmative defense which must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. N.J. Stat. Ann. ยง 2C:4-2 (emphasis supplied).
Defendant claims the right to a new trial on the murder charge because of this constitutional deprivation.
The State asserts that defendant is not entitled to relief because of the procedural bars of prior adjudication, R. 3:22-5, and the five-year time limit, R. 3:22-12. The State also claims that defendant, in these circumstances, is not entitled to any retroactive benefit of the Third Circuit's ruling in Humanik v. Beyer, 871 F.2d 432 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 812, 107 L.Ed.2d 25 (1989), holding the extant (1987) version of N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2 unconstitutional.
We conclude that defendant is entitled to a threshold evidentiary hearing per N.J.R.E. 104(a) on the issue of admissibility of his anticipated proffer of evidence on this point: is the evidence which defendant would present at a new trial sufficient for jury consideration on his criminal state of mind or is the evidence too weak and vague to create a jury issue on diminished capacity under controlling case law?
John M. Cannel, in his annotations to the Criminal Code, succinctly and precisely recites the history of the so-called Humanik dilemma and N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2. Because we cannot improve upon this analysis, we set it forth completely.
History.
The history of this particular section is uniquely interesting. As originally proposed, it was intended only to make clear that certain evidence regarding mental disease or defect was relevant. Courts had been reluctant to admit such evidence when it was not part of an "insanity" defense. See e.g. discussion in State v. Molnar, 81 N.J. 475, 489-490 (1980). The commissioners wanted to make it clear, however, that whether or not the "insanity" defense was to be raised, the defendant's mental state would always be subject to scrutiny; this would be so because mens rea, as an element of nearly every offense, is a fact issue to be decided by the jury. See Commission Commentary 1, below. Consequently 2C:4-2, as proposed, was directed entirely to the admissibility of evidence relating to the impact of mental disease or defect on defendant's state of mind, whether or not that impact was such as to provide a 2C:4-1 defense.
As originally enacted, the section differed only slightly from that proposed. Following the Model Penal Code, it gave defendants a right to admit mental disease or defect evidence when relevant to any state of mind which is an element of this offense. By contrast, the commissioners had recommended only that defendants be given a right to admit such evidence insofar as it b
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