State v. Yarbough

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

This is the first time that we have addressed the standards under the Code of Criminal Justice, N.J.S.A. 2C:1-1 to 98-4 (Code), that shall govern courts in determining whether sentences for multiple offenses are to be served consecutively or concurrently. We determine that in fashioning consecutive or concurrent sentences under the Code, sentencing courts should be guided by the Code’s paramount sentencing goals that punishment fit the crime, not the criminal, and that there be a predictable degree of uniformity in sentencing. To achieve…