State v. Afanador

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

State v. Alexander, 136 N.J. 563, 643 A.2d 996 (1994), held that in order to convict one as a drug kingpin under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-3, a jury should be instructed that it must find that a defendant held an “upper echelon” or “high level” role as leader of a drug trafficking network. The principal issues in this appeal are (1) whether the principles of Alexander should apply retroactively to a case tried before that decision, (2) whether defendant’s petition seeking post-conviction relief from his conviction as a kingpin on the basis of Alexander…