The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that pros­e­cu­tors who plan to seek the death penal­ty must sub­mit that request to a grand jury for approval. Prior to the 4 – 2 rul­ing by the Court, pros­e­cu­tors could decide to seek the death penal­ty as late as the mid­dle of the tri­al. The Court’s deci­sion was made in the case of Scott Fortin, and will prob­a­bly affect oth­er cas­es cur­rent­ly being pros­e­cut­ed. The remain­ing 13 inmates on death row may not be affect­ed unless the rul­ing is held to be retroac­tive. The Court’s deci­sion brought the state’s pro­ce­dures in line with the United States Supreme Court rul­ing in Ring v Arizona, mak­ing ​“aggra­vat­ing fac­tors” a func­tion­al ele­ment of the crime. Previously, such fac­tors were not con­sid­ered part of the crime, and there­fore were not sub­ject to review by the grand jury. (New York Times, February 4, 2004) See Ring v. Arizona.

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