State v. Molina

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

POLLOCK, J.

In the companion case, State v. Baylass, 114 N.J. 169, decided today, we held that probation violations may be used on the “in-out” decision whether to revoke probation and incarcerate the defendant. We held further that a probation violation is neither an aggravating factor nor evidence of such a factor. The violation, however, may be used to diminish or negate mitigating factors such as defendant’s ability to lead a law-abiding life, N.J.S.A. 2C:44-lb(7); the unlikelihood as manifested through defendant’s character and attitude that he…