New Jersey Statutes 2C:11-5.3. Strict liability vehicular homicide
Attorney's Note
Under the New Jersey Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| crime of the third degree | between 3 and 5 years | up to $15,000 |
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2C:11-5.3
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
b. Strict liability vehicular homicide is a crime of the third degree, but the presumption of nonimprisonment set forth in subsection e. of N.J.S. 2C:44-1 shall not apply.
c. The provisions of N.J.S. 2C:2-3 governing the causal relationship between conduct and result shall not apply in a prosecution under this section. For purposes of this offense, the defendant‘s act of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in violation of R.S.39:4-50 or operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs in violation of section 3 of P.L.1952, c.157 (C. 12:7-46) is the cause of death when:
(1) The operation of the motor vehicle or vessel is an antecedent but for which the death would not have occurred; and
(2) The death was not:
(a) too remote in its occurrence as to have a just bearing on the defendant’s liability; or
(b) too dependent upon the conduct of another person which was unrelated to the defendant’s operation of a motor vehicle or vessel as to have a just bearing on the defendant’s liability.
d. It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the decedent contributed to his own death by reckless or negligent conduct or operation of a motor vehicle or vessel.
e. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to preclude, if the evidence so warrants, an indictment and conviction for any other offense.
L.2017, c.165, s.1.