State v. Rumblin

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

COLEMAN, J.

This appeal requires us to decide whether the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 20:43-7.2, may be applied to a defendant convicted of a first or second degree offense as an accomplice rather than as a principal. In a published opinion, the Appellate Division held that NERA may be applied to accomplices. State v. Rumblin, 326 N.J.Super. 296, 302, 741 A.2d 138 (1999). We granted defendant’s petition for certification, 163 N.J. 396, 749 A.2d 370 (2000), and now affirm.

I

A Bergen County Grand Jury indicted defendant and his co-defendants,…