Criminal Law in Bergen County: New Jersey's Pre-Trial Intervention Program (Part 4)

Approximately 13 years ago, a defendant in a criminal case obtained admission into the PTI program over the objection of the prosecutor.  The principle cause of the government's veto was that the defendant was charged with a second degree offense. The prosecutor ultimately appealed the decision to New Jersey's Supreme Court. At the time that the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the issue, the defendant had completed the PTI  program and as result, the defendant  moved to dismiss the appeal on double jeopardy grounds. Although the Supreme Court denied the defendant's double jeopardy claim, it referred the issue to the criminal practice committee and recommended certain rule changes.

Those changes were accepted by the committee and as a result, a defendant's admission into a PTI program over the prosecutor's objection is now stayed for 15 days in order to give the prosecutor an opportunity to appeal the decision.

In a recent decision, the Appellate Division has taken a rather hardline on the 15 day appeal opportunity limit provided to the government when it dismissed an appeal because the government failed to file its appeal timely.