The State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Horace Nelson Laws, Defendant-Appellant; the State of New Jersey…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the murder convictions and modified the death sentences to life imprisonment, holding that the Court has the authority to alter a death penalty when the error is limited to sentencing and the prosecutor has waived the death penalty. The Court declined to order a new trial on the penalty issue. A dissent argued that the Court lacks such power and would require a new trial, while a concurrence agreed with the modification but emphasized the prosecutor's waiver as the proper basis.