## Facts

- Margaret Kosmin, a New Jersey state inmate, became parole-eligible on December 27, 2001.
- In 1994, she pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter (as a lesser-included offense of murder), hindering apprehension by concealing a weapon, and aggravated arson.
- The crimes involved the shooting death of William Kelly and an effort to conceal the killing by transporting his body and burning the car used in the transport.
- The motive was tied to years of severe physical, psychological, and sexual abuse by Kelly; the abuse and its severity were recognized at sentencing and described in a psychiatric report.
- Kosmin received an aggregate sentence of 25 years imprisonment with 8 years of parole ineligibility.
- At the time of parole eligibility, she had no prior criminal record, a strong institutional record (program participation, counseling, substance-abuse treatment, rule compliance), and family support.
- A 2002 psychological evaluation described her as remorseful and insightful, without a diagnosable psychiatric disorder, aware of precipitating factors and treatment needs, and at low risk to reoffend.
- The New Jersey State Parole Board denied parole and set a future eligibility term, citing the seriousness and multiplicity of the offenses, her failure to admit being the shooter, and a finding that she was likely to commit another offense if released.

## Issues

1. Whether the Parole Board’s finding that Kosmin would be likely to commit another crime if released was supported by sufficient credible evidence in the record.
2. Whether the seriousness and multiplicity of the committing offenses, and Kosmin’s failure to accept being the shooter, could justify a present finding of a substantial likelihood of recidivism under New Jersey parole standards.

## Decision

- The Appellate Division reversed the Parole Board’s denial of parole.
- The court held the record did not support the Board’s stated basis for denial: that Kosmin was likely to commit another crime if released.
- The court concluded the denial was arbitrary and unreasonable because it rested largely on the original offenses and a disputed/uncertain factual detail (identity of the shooter), rather than current evidence of risk.
- The court emphasized the substantial contrary evidence of low current risk, including her institutional history and favorable psychological assessment.

## Legal Principles

- Parole may be denied only upon a record-based determination that there is a substantial likelihood the inmate will commit a crime if released on parole.
- The committing offense is relevant to parole consideration but is not dispositive of current risk; denial must be grounded in present, credible indicators of recidivism risk.
- A parole decision is arbitrary and unreasonable when it disregards substantial evidence of rehabilitation and relies on factors that do not rationally support the required prediction of future criminality.
- Reliance on an inmate’s failure to admit a particular contested factual role in the offense cannot, without more, support a finding of current substantial likelihood of reoffending.

## Conclusion

The court set aside the parole denial because the administrative record—viewed as a whole—did not credibly support a present finding that Kosmin posed a substantial likelihood of reoffending, making the Board’s decision arbitrary and unreasonable.


Kosmin v. N.J. State Parole Bd., 830 A.2d 914 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2003)