SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 1036

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

 

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1036.

      This bill would allow any person mistakenly convicted and imprisoned to bring an action for damages against the State. Such actions would be brought against the Department of the Treasury and must be brought within two years of the person's release from incarceration. In order to receive damages, the claimant must establish by clear and convincing evidence that he was convicted and imprisoned, that he did not commit the crime and that his own conduct did not cause or bring about the conviction.

      The committee adopted amendments to S-1036 clarifying that the bill is intended to cover only persons mistakenly convicted. The committee amendments also clarified that in considering claims for mistaken imprisonment, the court may give due consideration to the difficulties of proof caused by the passage of time, the death of witnesses and the destruction of evidence. In addition, the amendments added language providing that a person is not eligible to file a claim for damages under the act if he either: (1) is serving a term of imprisonment for a crime other than the crime of which he was mistakenly convicted; or (2) served a sentence for another crime concurrently with the sentence for the crime of which he was mistakenly convicted.