. . . Christie, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, initially said he would let the case play out in the state's judicial system. He said recently he would consider changing the state's gun laws, but that the Democratic legislature has no appetite for that and instead he would do what was in his purview, such as pardons . . . .

The case drew national attention, in part because the same Atlantic County prosecutor and judge who signed off on pre-trial intervention for former NFL star Ray Rice, who knocked his then-fiancee out in an Atlantic City hotel elevator last year, denied the opportunity to Allen.