State v. Fowlkes

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

LaVECCHIA, J.

This appeal involves a defendant’s plea of guilty to a school-zone drug offense under the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987 (CDRA), N.J.S.A. 2C:35-1 to 36A-1. To satisfy constitutional requirements, in 1992 the Attorney General promulgated two plea-agreement directives to govern prosecutorial discretion in structuring plea offers under the CDRA. Directive Implementing Guidelines Governing Plear-Bargaining and Discretionary Decisions in Drug Prosecutions Involving Mandatory Terms, from Robert J. Del Tufo, Attorney General, to the…