State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Richard Raymond Kruse, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the sentencing court’s imposition of a seven‑year parole ineligibility period attached to the presumptive fifteen‑year term because the trial judge failed to explain the factual basis for that ineligibility, and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. The Court held that a parole ineligibility period may be imposed without increasing the presumptive sentence, but the court must be clearly convinced that aggravating factors substantially outweigh mitigating ones and must state the reasons on the record.