Supreme Court of New Jersey Decisions 2014
Date: December 23, 2014
Docket Number: a-34-13
Justia Opinion Summary: At trial, when Abbas Husain was sworn in, he raised his right hand and spoke the oath, but did not place his left hand directly on the Bible. Ultimately, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Tomika Davis for $12,500.…
Date: December 22, 2014
Docket Number: a-24-13
Justia Opinion Summary: At a routine doctor appointment for a hand injury, Y.N. ("Yvonne") learned that she was four months pregnant. During that four-month period, Yvonne had been taking Percocet for injuries caused in a car accident and…
Date: December 17, 2014
Docket Number: a-31-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was first convicted of DWI in 1981. He was charged with DWI again in 1982 and, unrepresented by counsel, pled guilty to that charge. Defendant had a third DWI conviction in 1994. Because that conviction was…
Date: December 15, 2014
Docket Number: a-12-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and two others were charged with various drug offenses. Defendant entered into a negotiated plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to third-degree conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to…
Date: December 4, 2014
Docket Number: a-16-13
Date: December 3, 2014
Docket Number: a-125-11
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review centered on the free speech rights of residents in a high-rise cooperative apartment building. A resident who was a regular critic of the building's Board of…
Date: December 2, 2014
Docket Number: a-45-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant waived his right to a jury trial and was convicted of second-degree luring, among other crimes, at the conclusion of a bench trial. The convictions were based on Internet conversations between defendant and a…
Date: October 6, 2014
Docket Number: a-68-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In "New Jersey v. Rodriguez," the Supreme Court held that a person who acts in self-defense and kills in the honest and reasonable belief that the protection of his own life requires the use of deadly force cannot be…
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: a-114-11
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a business venture that was established by plaintiff Brendan Allen and defendant Asnel Diaz Sanchez. The venture was operated through plaintiff ADS Associates, Inc. (ADS), a corporation fully owned…
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: a-41-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In New Jersey, custodial sentences for criminal and quasi-criminal violations are governed by different codes depending on the classification of the offense. Sentencing for crimes and disorderly persons offenses are…
Date: September 29, 2014
Docket Number: a-7-13
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a jury determined that two New Jersey public entities, South Jersey Transportation Authority and the New Jersey State Police, were liable for injuries sustained by plaintiff as a result of a multi-vehicle…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: a-1-13
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Beverly Maeker and William Ross, although unmarried to each other, lived together and shared a marital-like relationship from 1999 to 2011. In the course of that relationship, Maeker alleged she gave up a…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: a-31-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Cesar Lipa, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated sexual assault, based on allegations that he committed sexual acts against M.G. on three occasions when she was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.…
Date: September 24, 2014
Docket Number: a-74-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the State challenged a family court order allowing seventeen-year-old A.B. and his attorney to conduct a thirty-minute inspection of a home where the juvenile was alleged to have committed sexual offenses…
Date: September 23, 2014
Docket Number: a-19-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Terry Jones was convicted of two counts of sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual contact. He sought post-conviction relief (PCR), claiming in relevant part, that defense counsel was ineffective for…
Date: September 22, 2014
Docket Number: a-94-11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, George Riley, then seventy-six years old, completed serving a twenty-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault. On his release from prison, Riley was under no form of parole supervision, although he was…
Date: September 18, 2014
Docket Number: a-45-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, then eighteen-year-old defendant Kirby Lenihan was driving her vehicle on a road whose speed limit was posted at forty-five miles per hour. K.G., who was then sixteen years old, was in the passenger seat. It was…
Date: September 17, 2014
Docket Number: d-46-13
Date: September 16, 2014
Docket Number: a-11-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Winslow Township Police Patrolman Carl Mueller testified that he stopped defendant after defendant’s car passed the officer’s police vehicle. Officer Mueller testified defendant was traveling at a “high rate of speed,”…
Date: September 15, 2014
Docket Number: a-18-13
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review was whether a defendant released on bail on one indictment, later incarcerated on a different indictment, could claim jail credit for the first one. Defendant…
Date: September 15, 2014
Docket Number: a-22-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendants in this case were private fire sprinkler inspection companies that were hired to assess the operating condition of a hotel's sprinkler system. Following a fatal fire at the hotel, the parents of the…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: a-29-13
Justia Opinion Summary: The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office executed a search warrant issued in connection with a criminal investigation and seized items owned by plaintiffs Robert and Karen Lavezzi. The criminal investigation was eventually…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: a-60-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this appeal presented for the New Jersey Supreme Court's review centered on an agreement for the sale of a residential property and a subsequent lease and repurchase agreement, specifically whether the…
Date: September 8, 2014
Docket Number: a-104-11
Justia Opinion Summary: In late June 2004, approximately fifty young men and women gathered at the apartment of a recent high school graduate to celebrate her graduation. Later in the evening, a verbal argument erupted on the street in front of…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: a-35-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Christopher Dekowski entered a bank carrying what looked like a briefcase, went to a teller’s counter, and with the use of a note demanded money and threatened that he had a bomb. The bank manager did as she…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: a-8-12
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant Kelvin Williams of first-degree robbery based on evidence that he entered a bank, told a teller he possessed a bomb, and demanded money. Defendant made no gesture as he made his threat, and a…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: a-66-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Malik & Son, LLC owned property in the Borough of Merchantville. The Property contained a fifty-four unit apartment building and had been designated by the Borough as an area in need of redevelopment. Malik assumed a…
Date: August 6, 2014
Docket Number: a-5-12
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant, Bryden Williams, of murder, third-degree possession of a handgun without a carrying permit, and second-degree possession of a handgun with the purpose to use it unlawfully against another. In…
Date: August 6, 2014
Docket Number: a-69-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Julie Michaels was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, third-degree assault by auto, and four other related charges, as well as motor vehicle citations, including driving while intoxicated, reckless…
Date: August 5, 2014
Docket Number: a-30-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with allegedly driving off with an Audi A4 that had been left outside a restaurant in Wallington with the keys in the ignition. After the owner saw that his vehicle was missing, he called 9-1-1 and…
Date: August 4, 2014
Docket Number: a-57-12
Justia Opinion Summary: At trial on attempted murder and related charges, a State's witness against defendant Vonte Skinner was permitted to read to the jury, at great length, violent and profane rap lyrics that had been written by defendant…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: a-129-11
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Reginald Roach was convicted by a jury of aggravated sexual assault, burglary, and other offenses related to the home invasion and rape of a sixty-four-year-old woman. The issue on appeal to the Supreme Court…
Date: July 31, 2014
Docket Number: a-13-13
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a city clerk in a Faulkner Act municipality refused to accept for filing a petition for referendum on the ground that the petition did not have a sufficient number of qualifying signatures. Members of a…
Date: July 24, 2014
Docket Number: a-42-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, the State filed a petition for the involuntary civil commitment of D.Y., who was convicted of several state and federal charges arising from sexual assaults on minors. At his initial commitment hearing, D.Y.…
Date: July 23, 2014
Docket Number: a-8-13
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-petitioner Matthew Barrick challenged the award of a contract for the lease of office to the lowest bidder by the New Jersey Division of Property Management and Construction. Barrick argued that the winning…
Date: July 22, 2014
Docket Number: a-71-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court was whether State intercepted phone conversations and text messages between a husband and wife, pursuant to a court-approved wiretap, were protected communications under the marital…
Date: July 21, 2014
Docket Number: a-16-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Martin O’Boyle was a resident of the Borough of Longport who previously filed several complaints against the Borough and its officials regarding Borough governance. In 2008 and 2009, O’Boyle filed separate lawsuits…
Date: June 30, 2014
Docket Number: a-101-11
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Lorraine Gormley was an attorney employed by the Department of the Public Advocate, Division of Mental Health Advocacy, providing legal representation to clients involuntarily committed in state psychiatric…
Date: June 25, 2014
Docket Number: a-107-11
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the issue this case posed to the New Jersey Supreme Court was presented by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: whether, under New Jersey law, a tax sale certificate purchaser holds a…
Date: June 5, 2014
Docket Number: a-20-12
Justia Opinion Summary: This was the second time defendant James Robinson appeared before the Supreme Court concerning his conviction for two drug transactions in December 2003 and January 2004. In "New Jersey v. Robinson," (200 N.J. 1, 18…
Date: June 2, 2014
Docket Number: a-116-11
Justia Opinion Summary: A father, J.G., was incarcerated six months after the birth of his daughter. He was released five years and four months later, while a guardianship trial was in progress. The birth mother surrendered her rights in favor…
Date: May 20, 2014
Docket Number: a-13-12
Justia Opinion Summary: A family-care physician prescribed a powerful medication to treat a patient who suffered from chronic back pain. The patient was known to abuse alcohol and drugs. The complaint alleged that the physician breached the…
Date: May 20, 2014
Docket Number: a-36-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Zagami, LLC owned the Landmark Americana Tap and Grill in the Borough of Glassboro. In 2006, Zagami applied to the Borough for a renewal of its liquor license. Luis Perez, a citizen residing in Glassboro, opposed the…
Date: May 19, 2014
Docket Number: a-15-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented to the New Jersey Supreme Court centered on the validity of a warrantless search of the bedroom of defendant Byseem Coles, "nine days shy of twenty years old" when the events pertinent to…
Date: May 19, 2014
Docket Number: a-37-12
Justia Opinion Summary: An investigation of a reported shooting in a part of town led Pennsville police to the house in which police knew defendant Michael Lamb had resided at one time. Defendant's stepfather emphatically informed police that…
Date: May 15, 2014
Docket Number: a-115-11
Justia Opinion Summary: The incident underlying defendant’s convictions occurred in the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) where defendant worked from 2003 through 2006 as a technician in the information technology (IT) department. In 2006,…
Date: May 13, 2014
Docket Number: a-21-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Prior to sentencing, defendant applied for admission to the Pretrial Intervention program (PTI), which the State denied. Defendant appealed to the Law Division, claiming that he was entitled to PTI because the…
Date: April 23, 2014
Docket Number: a-55-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The question this case presented to the Supreme Court in this medical malpractice matter centered on the statutory standard to determine when reporting of suspected child abuse is required. A toddler was brought to a…
Date: April 1, 2014
Docket Number: a-59-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Cheryl Hersh worked for defendant County of Morris. The County rented approximately sixty-five parking spaces for its employees in the Cattano Garage, a private parking garage containing several hundred parking…
Date: March 31, 2014
Docket Number: a-44-12
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue on appeal to the Supreme Court in this case centered on whether a sentencing court may consider a defendant's ability to pay when setting a monetary penalty. Defendant Carlos Bolvito pled guilty to three…
Date: March 19, 2014
Docket Number: a-10-12
Justia Opinion Summary: R.F., when he was seventeen years old, engaged in sexual conduct with two children, ages twelve and thirteen. He pled guilty in adult court to endangering the welfare of both children and was sentenced to a five-year…
Date: March 18, 2014
Docket Number: a-52-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Edward Ates, lived in Florida and had family in Florida and Louisiana. He was arrested and charged with the murder of his former son-in-law in New Jersey. As part of the criminal investigation, a New Jersey…
Date: March 13, 2014
Docket Number: a-85-11
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested and charged with third-degree possession of cocaine. Prior to trial, she challenged the admissibility of her statements to a patrolman. At a pretrial "Jackson-Denno" hearing, the patrolman…
Date: March 11, 2014
Docket Number: a-17-12
Justia Opinion Summary: When Frances O'Neill arranged for her mother, Elise Hopkins, to become a resident of Manahawkin Convalescent Center, she decided to pay Manahawkin's bills from Hopkins' Social Security benefits, rather than arranging for…
Date: February 24, 2014
Docket Number: a-28-12
Justia Opinion Summary: "Kyle" had been adjudicated delinquent on three occasions prior to the offense giving rise to this appeal. The first two adjudications involved minor offenses that did not meet N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-44(d)(3)'s predicate…
Date: February 12, 2014
Docket Number: a-110-11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Defendant Joseph Diorio and two others conceived and executed a “bust-out” financial scheme by creating a business for the purpose of defrauding creditors. Defendant and the two others formed a corporation to…
Date: January 30, 2014
Docket Number: a-31-11
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on whether a father presented sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that his transfer of stock to his son was a gift. Upon review, the Supreme Court held…
Date: January 29, 2014
Docket Number: a-113-11
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on information from two confidential informants and a concerned citizen that a dilapidated Camden row house was being used as a "stash location" for illegal drug transactions, a State Trooper set up a surveillance…
Date: January 28, 2014
Docket Number: a-33-12
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the issue before the Supreme Court centered on whether a change in the federal estate tax law after an alleged wrongful death could give rise to a viable claim under the Wrongful Death Act. The Appellate…
Date: January 16, 2014
Docket Number: a-39-12
Justia Opinion Summary: D.J.B. was adjudged a juvenile delinquent for acts that would be considered crimes had they been committed by an adult. As an adult, D.J.B. pled guilty to fourth-degree receiving stolen property in 1996. In 2011, D.J.B.…
Date: January 15, 2014
Docket Number: a-67-11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Catrell Robinson picked up his friend, Sharon, her sixteen-year-old sister, S.C., and Sharon’s two-year-old daughter, M.A, to take them to the laundromat. Sharon placed M.A. in the back seat; S.C. sat in the…
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