NJSBA headquarters NJSBA headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

Capitol Report

Prior PTIs for cannabis offenses should not be a bar for future PTI, says NJSBA

The NJSBA participated as amicus before the Supreme Court in State v. Gomes, which considers whether pretrial intervention is available for defendants who have received a prior PTI or diversion for a now-expungable cannabis charge. NJSBA's Criminal Law Section Chair, Michael B. Roberts, wrote the brief in both the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court and argued the matter before the Appellate Division.

Gomes is one of four cases being considered by the Supreme Court, which questioned the legislative intent of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA), passed last year. CREAMMA's sponsors made statements about the sweeping effect of eradicating certain cannabis charges from the records of people who were charged with it from the past and getting rid of any pending charges and/or penalties from those same charges. The trial court in Gomes agreed, allowing the defendant to enter PTI following charges of driving while intoxicated and assault by auto. The prosecutor in that case deemed him ineligible because of a prior conditional discharge in 2013 for possession of marijuana. This is no longer a criminal offense with the passage of CREAMMA.