State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent and Cross-Appellant v. Bobby Lee Brown, Defendant-Appellant and…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed Bobby Lee Brown's murder convictions but reversed his death sentence because the trial court failed to instruct the jury that a non‑unanimous finding on the "own‑conduct" issue was permissible and would result in a life sentence; the Court also remanded for resentencing and correction of an improper merger of convictions. Justice Handler, in a concurring‑in‑part/dissent‑in‑part opinion, agreed with the reversal of the death sentence but argued that additional errors required further relief.