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Supreme Court of New Jersey - 378 A.2d 755, 74 N.J. 421
Tags: Criminal law, Duress
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The case involves a defendant convicted of conspiring to obtain money by false pretenses, who claimed duress as a defense. The trial judge erred by ruling that the threatened harm was not imminent enough to justify charging the jury on the defense of duress. The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that duress is an affirmative defense to a crime other than murder and need not be based on an alleged threat of immediate bodily injury. The court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial, as the defendant alleged sufficient facts to warrant charging the jury on his claim of duress. The article discusses the defense of duress in criminal cases in New Jersey, including the traditional test for duress and the push for a more lenient standard. Legal cases have recognized the use of duress as a valid defense strategy in various scenarios, and the law seeks to strike a balance between imposing an unrealistic standard of heroism on a defendant and accepting cowardice as a defense.
The author agrees with the decision to overturn the conviction but disagrees with the new requirement for defendants to prove duress as a defense in criminal cases by a preponderance of evidence. This change in New Jersey law goes against the fundamental principle of criminal law that the state must prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court has reversed the burden of proof for the defense of duress due to its newly reformulated open-ended nature and the potential for abuse and uneven treatment. However, the defense of duress is not more susceptible to abuse or uneven treatment than other criminal affirmative defenses. The Court's rule would allow for a conviction even if the jury has a reasonable doubt that the defendant was free from the coercive effect of duress when committing the crime.
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