Supreme Court of New Jersey
State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Robert O. Marshall, Defendant-Appellant
July 28, 1992130 N.J. 109
Summary
The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed Robert O. Marshall's death sentence, holding that it is not disproportionate under the state's proportionality review statute as applied at the time of the offense, and declined to apply the 1992 statutory amendment retroactively. The Court also addressed methodological issues concerning the appropriate universe of cases for proportionality review. Justice Handler dissented, arguing the methodology is flawed and the death penalty unconstitutional, while Justice Garibaldi concurred in part but disagreed with the majority's expansive view of the universe.