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State v. Fortin2/3/2004
established." Ibid. If the jury fails to unanimously agree that the government has established an aggravating factor, then the court must impose a sentence other than death. 18 U.S.C.A. § 3593(d). If the jury concludes that the government established at least one aggravating factor, the jury then proceeds to "consider whether all the aggravating factor or factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh all the mitigating factor or factors found to exist to justify a sentence of death, or, in the absence of a mitigating factor, whether the aggravating factor or factors alone are sufficient to justify a sentence of death." 18 U.S.C.A. § 3593(e). Based upon the balancing of the aggravating and mitigating factors, the jury then makes a unanimous sentencing recommendation. Ibid.
If aggravating factors and capital triggers are the functional equivalent of elements of capital murder pursuant to the Sixth Amendment's right to trial by jury, we see no reason to define them as something other than elements for purposes of the state constitutional right to a grand jury presentation. We, therefore, hold that our State Constitution requires that aggravating factors be submitted to the grand jury and returned in an indictment. In a criminal justice system in which all of the elements of a crime must be submitted to the grand jury it would be odd to make capital murder the one exception. Our analysis of the development of federal law does not compel this result; logic and fairness and the historical importance we attach to our grand jury system do.
In light of Apprendi and Ring and our recognition that "functionally, the aggravating factors in [N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c] are indistinguishable... from the elements of a crime," Ramseur, supra, 106 N.J. at 201 n.27, we conclude that Article I, Paragraph 8 requires the submission of the aggravating factors and capital "triggers" to the grand jury. Courts do not lightly overrule their own precedents. The United States Supreme Court, by declaring unconstitutional one part of Arizona's capital penalty law in Ring v. Arizona, overruled its decision in Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 111 L.Ed. 2d 511 (1990), "to the extent that it allow a sentencing judge, sitting without a jury, to find an aggravating circumstance necessary for imposition of the death penalty." 536 U.S. at 609, 122 S.Ct. at 2443, 153 L.Ed. 2d at 576-77.
The Court took note of its break with precedent: "Although the doctrine of stare decisis is of fundamental importance to the rule of law[,]... ur precedents are not sacrosanct. e have overruled prior decisions where the necessity and propriety of doing so has been established. We are satisfied that this is such a case." Id. at 608, 122 S.Ct. at 2442-43, 153 L.Ed. 2d at 576 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). In light of Ring, federal constitutional law now clearly defines the elements of capital murder in a way that is fatally at odds with Martini I. We are left with no alternative but to part ways with that portion of the Martini I decision inconsistent with our holding today.
We are mindful that the rule we announce overrules Martini I's interpretation of Article I, Paragraph 8 and thereby is "'a new rule of law.'" State v. Afanador, 151 N.J. 41, 57 (1997) (quoting State v. Cupe, 289 N.J. Super. 1, 11 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 144 N.J. 589 (1996)). We limit this rule to purely prospective application for several reasons. In determining whether to apply a new rule retroactively or prospectively, we consider the following three factors: "'(1) the purpose of the rule and whether it would be furthered by a retroactive application, (2) the degree of reliance placed on the old rule by those who administered
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