FREEHOLD - Robert Parody stood before a judge in June and admitted taking a knife from the kitchen of his Howell home, going to a bedroom where his mother was sleeping and fatally stabbing her in the chest with it.
Now, under a new sentencing factor just enacted into law in January, Parody, 27, of Howell, could be looking at as little as five years in prison for killing his mother in 2024
Defense attorney Michael Pappa said he plans to argue at Parody's sentencing in September that the newly enacted sentencing factor, which gives consideration to criminal defendants who are the victims of domestic violence or abuse, applies to his client.
Known as mitigating factor no. 15, it calls for sentencing a defendant for a crime one degree lower if the defendant was a victim of domestic violence or abuse and that abuse was a contributing factor in the commission of the crime.
The law creating the new mitigating factor excludes from consideration defendants convicted of murder or any offense for which they are required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.
Parody was originally charged with murder in the stabbing death of his 61-year-old mother, Loretta Parody, in the family's Howell home on June 3, 2024.
The charge was downgraded to aggravated manslaughter in a plea bargain in which prosecutors plan to ask for a 15-year prison term for Parody. As a result, the murder exclusion would not apply in Parody's case.
The law contains provisions for defendants already sentenced and still incarcerated to apply for resentencing under the new mitigating factor.
A companion law enacted at the same time - which also excludes murder and Megan's Law offenses from consideration - allows defendants to apply for expungements of their criminal records if they are victims of domestic violence or abuse and that abuse contributed to commission of the crime.
The new mitigating factor - which has been welcomed by advocates for domestic violence survivors - is the only one of the 15 mitigating sentencing factors that allows for a step-down in sentencing without weighing all the other mitigating and aggravating factors.
Before it was enacted into law, judges already had the ability to sentence defendants for lesser-level crimes, but only after weighing all the aggravating and mitigating factors surrounding the offense and finding that the mitigating factors substantially outweighed any aggravating factors.
Judges at every criminal sentencing must weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors before they impose punishment. Other mitigating factors they may consider include the lack of a defendant's prior criminal record and whether the defendant's character and attitude indicate he or she is unlikely to reoffend. Some of the aggravating factors taken into consideration include the gravity and seriousness of the harm inflicted on the victim, the extent of the defendant's prior criminal record and the need to deter.
The new mitigating factor allows courts to recognize that "trauma from domestic violence and sexual assault is something that contributes to people being involved in the criminal justice system," said Liz Graham, chief executive officer of 180 Turning Lives Around, a Monmouth County-based advocacy organization that provides services to domestic violence victims.
The organization is part of a statewide coalition of domestic violence advocacy groups that supported the law creating the new mitigating factor.
"I know the coalition has been behind this, with the real thought process being that the justice system can hold people accountable but still recognize trauma, and knowing that there were a lot of cases where that was not a consideration in sentencing," Graham said.
"There are guardrails and limits on this," Graham added, noting the exclusions for defendants convicted of murder or Megan's Law offenses.
In addition, a defendant can only benefit from mitigating factor no. 15 once.
In Parody's case, he could be looking at a prison term of five to 10 years for a second-degree offense if the judge finds the existence of mitigating factor no. 15. That compares to the 15 to 30 years he faces for the first-degree crime of aggravated manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty on June 16.
Parody admitted during the plea hearing that after taking a knife from the kitchen of his family's home and going to his mother's bedroom with it, his mother woke up, and a struggle ensued. Parody admitted that he swung the knife recklessly during the struggle, fatally striking his mother in the chest with it.
Pappa, Parody's attorney, said it is the first case that he is aware of in which a defendant will seek to have the new mitigating factor applied to him.
Pappa said at the plea hearing before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley that he plans to ask the judge to impose a prison term of five- to 10 years by arguing for mitigating factor no. 15.
Pappa did not put anything on the record at the plea hearing to support his claim that mitigating factor no. 15 is applicable, and no mention of domestic violence or abuse had been mentioned at previous court proceedings in the case.
At Parody's detention hearing in 2024, Pappa said Parody had been suffering from worsening mental illness since he was injured in a dirt bike accident nine years earlier. Pappa said at the time he was pursuing an insanity or diminished capacity defense.
When pressed for reasons why he planned to argue for mitigating factor no. 15 at Parody's sentencing, Pappa issued the following statement:
"One of the mitigating factors we will seek to have applied at sentencing was recently enacted to allow certain defendants who were the victims of domestic violence to be sentenced in the second-degree range for a first-degree offense due to the emotional and physical scarring from a prior history as a domestic violence survivor.
"I intend to argue that this new mitigating factor should be found to apply based upon Robert's treatment history, starting with a traumatic brain injury when he was 15 years old and a diagnosis of Lyme disease psychosis after contracting Lyme disease as a teenager. The combination of these conditions have resulted in trauma of the mind and body similar to the mental and physical trauma of survivors of domestic violence. The trauma from these conditions is what led to the reckless act underlying the factual basis for Robert's guilty plea to aggravated manslaughter."
A spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said the office declined to comment on the case.
Graham questioned whether mitigating factor no. 15 would apply in the case, saying, "This is very specific to someone who has been a victim of domestic violence, or it could be a physical or sexual assault."
No one voiced opposition to the bill creating mitigating factor no. 15 when the Senate voted 28-10 to pass it in January at the end of the last legislative session. At the time, representatives of two organizations, the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence, to which 180 Turning Lives Around belongs, and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, submitted written comments in favor of it.
The Assembly passed the bill 70-1.
Robert A. Honecker Jr., a criminal defense attorney with the Ocean Township law firm Ansell, Grimm and Aaron, said the new mitigating factor is helpful under the right circumstances.
"For defense attorneys, in appropriate cases, this factor could weigh heavily in having the court impose a much reduced sentence for their clients," he said.
Honecker, who was a career prosecutor with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office for 25 years before he retired in 2006 and began defense work, also looked at the issue from the other side.
"As a prosecutor, in these types of cases, you're aware of the circumstances, but you're limited in what you can do because of the nature of the crime," he said. "But, prosecutors factor this in as they either negotiate a plea or they prep for trial."
Honecker's positions in the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office included acting prosecutor and first assistant prosecutor.
He said he didn't think the new mitigating factor would make prosecutors hesitant to offer plea deals going forward.
"There will be a give and take between the defense attorney and the prosecutor on these types of cases, but what this factor gives the defense attorney is a shot to convince the court that a much lesser sentence should be imposed because of the substantial nature of the abuse," Honecker said.
"Prosecutors and defense attorneys have been dealing with this issue for a great many years, but I think now, this mitigating factor gives defense attorneys an opportunity to have the court weigh in and impose a lesser sentence," he said. "In the appropriate cases, it's a good thing."
Honecker also said he would expect incarcerated defendants to be applying to the court for reduced sentences under the new mitigating factor.
"I think that is definitely going to occur," he said.
Meanwhile, Graham said 180 Turning Lives Around is gearing up to help domestic violence survivors determine if they are eligible to apply for expungements of their criminal records under the companion law.
"We are really trying to get well-versed on this so that we can talk to survivors who may have records giving them barriers to things like employment," she said.
"I see that as a way to do a lot of restorative justice because, I can tell you, we often see survivors who have trouble getting housing, trouble getting jobs, trouble with a variety of things because of records that were heavily influenced by domestic violence or being human trafficked - things that happened 10 to 15 years ago, and they're trying to move forward and they're unable to,' Graham said.
Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Howell man who killed mom among first to seek leniency under new law