In the case of In re J.D., three women alleged that J.D. sexually assaulted them years earlier when they and J.D. were minors. The State filed juvenile delinquency complaints against J.D. and moved to waive certain charges to the Criminal Part to try J.D. as an adult on the alleged assaults that occurred when he was a juvenile. This appeal presented the New Jersey Appellate Division with an issue of first impression: whether the waiver procedures and hearing should be governed by the current statute, which became effective in March 2016, or by a hybrid of the statute at the time of the alleged offenses and the current statute. The trial court held that the current statute would govern. The Appellate Division affirmed, holding that the language of the current waiver statute, coupled with consideration of the Savings Clause, N.J.S.A. 1:1-15, established that the current statute should govern J.D.’s waiver hearing.
