State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Joseph A. Dirienzo, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed Joseph DiRienzo's conviction for receiving stolen property, holding that N.J.S.2A:139-1's inference of guilty knowledge from recent possession is constitutionally permissible under the rational‑connection test. The Court also modified the sentence, merging the two consecutive terms into a single term of three to five years, and rejected the defendant's due‑process and Fifth‑Amendment challenges.