Violoation of Probation and Jail Credits

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark

14-2-4736 State v. Bell , App. Div. (per curiam) (11 pp.)

Defendant appeals from the Law Division’s four-year sentence imposed following his guilty plea for violation of probation. He seeks additional jail credits corresponding to the period of custody from his arrest on new charges to the date of sentencing on the VOP and challenges the length of his sentence.

Defendant was arrested on the new charges in March 2012. The VOP charges were filed April 2012 while defendant was in custody on the new charge. He was sentenced on the VOP charges in June 2012. The panel affirms the sentence but concludes that defendant is entitled to additional jail credits, concluding that credits against the VOP sentence began to accrue when the VOP charges were pending, i.e., April 2012.

Credits and VOP Charges

It therefore remands for calculation of the number of credits defendant is entitled to receive between April and June, when he was sentenced on the VOP charge, and for amendment of the VOP Judgment of Conviction.