Legislators Fight for Crime Victims' Rights at Sentencing

As the District 26 Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce of Parsippany has joined with Assembly colleague Anthony Bucco of the 25th District to introduce legislation that would give crime victims  and their families the right to face their assailants at sentencing.

Guiseppe Tedesco, convicted of killing Alyssa Ruggieri in her Hopatcong home in 2010, wants to waive his right to appear at his sentencing. The state Supreme Court heard arguments last week and is expected to decide the matter in the fall.

 “Crime victims and their families will always feel the pain, loss and suffering caused by crime," DeCroce said. "They deserve the opportunity to confront those who harmed them before justice is served. It’s mind-boggling to think that the Supreme Court has to even consider whether a convicted murderer has to appear in court for his sentencing. The last words a violent criminal should hear before being locked up should be from the friends and families of the victims he left behind.”

The proposal would amend the Crime Victims Bill of Rights to strengthen victims’ rights to make an in-person statement directly to the court and the offender at sentencing.

DeCroce and Bucco urged the Supreme Court to side with crime victims and said they would fight to change the law to make sure this situation never arises again.

“The question of whether a criminal should have to sit for a sentencing should never be asked again,” DeCroce said. “We will support the Ruggieros and any other family victimized by crime and will fight to make sure the legal process remains open and compassionate to victims.”

The Crime Victims Bill of Rights, sponsored by DeCroce's late husband, former Assembylman Alex DeCroce, was signed into law in August 2012.