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APPEALS ADDED IN THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT LISTED NEWEST TO OLDEST

The following statements of issues on appeal are prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. They have been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interest of brevity, some issues may not have been summarized.

Beginning on July 16, 2010, each appeal summary posted on this website includes its "posted" date, which is necessary for calculating certain due dates for filing briefs and motions under revised Rule 1:13-9, "Amicus Curiae."

In addition, website addresses cited in the Court's opinions may change or disappear over time. An attempt has been made to capture the material cited in an opinion and to provide links to those sources, when available.

A-22-13 IMO Opinion No. 17-2012 of the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics (072810)

May an attorney volunteer on behalf of Volunteer Lawyers for Justice to provide pro bono legal services to a debtor in a “no-asset" Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding if the attorney’s law firm represents a creditor of the debtor in an unrelated matter?

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  • Certification granted : Oct. 18, 2013
  • Posted: Oct. 18, 2013
  • Argued: April 1, 2014
  • Decided: July 2, 2014

A-21-13 Garden State Equality v. Dow (073328)

In light of United States v. Windsor, 507 U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 2675, 186 L. Ed.2d 808 (2013), does New Jersey violate the equal protection guarantee under Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution if it denies same-sex couples the right to marry?

  • Certification granted : Oct. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Oct. 16, 2013
  • Matter withdrawn : Oct. 21, 2013

A-19/20-13 62-64 Main Street, L.L.C. v. Mayor and Council of the City of Hackensack (072699)

When designating private property as in need of redevelopment pursuant to sections 5(a), (b) and (d) of the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 to -73, must the municipality expressly find that the property is “blighted" pursuant to the Blighted Areas Clause of the New Jersey Constitution, art. VIII, § III, ¶ 1, and Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, 191 N.J. 344 (2007)?

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  • Certification granted : Oct. 3, 2013
  • Posted: Oct. 4, 2013
  • Argued: Oct. 7, 2014
  • Decided: March 23, 2015

A-18-13 State v. Daryel Rawls (072388)

When a defendant who is released on pretrial bail is subsequently arrested and incarcerated for a second offense, is defendant entitled to jail credit in sentencing on the first offense for the time incarcerated before bail was revoked?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 26, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2013
  • Argued: April 1, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 15, 2014

A-16/17-13 United Parcel Service Gen. Servs. Co. v. Director, Div. of Taxation (072421)

Are these business entities entitled to waiver of late payment penalties on the taxes assessed against them under the New Jersey's Corporation Business Tax Act, N.J.S.A. 54:10A-1 to -41, following an audit on certain intercompany transactions; and do tax amnesty penalties apply in these circumstances, and, if so, would their application be manifestly unjust or violate the taxpayers' due process rights?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 26, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2013
  • Argued: Sept. 23, 2014
  • Decided: Dec. 4, 2014

A-15-13 State v. Bruce E. Lige (072327)

In a trial on the charge of receiving stolen property, what is the appropriate use of the history of the defendant’s other theft offenses to establish his knowledge that property was stolen under N.J.S.A. 2C:20-7?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 20, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 20, 2013
  • Argued: Oct. 6, 2014
  • Decided: Oct. 29, 2014

A-13/2014-13 Daniel Tumpson v. James Farina (072813)

Did the Clerk of the City of Hoboken comply with the requirements of the Optional Municipal Charter Law, known as the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 to -210, in the processing of plaintiffs’ referendum petition; and, if not, did the noncompliance violate the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-1 to -2, permitting an award of attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 20, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 20, 2013
  • Argued: March 31, 2014
  • Decided: July 31, 2014

A-12-13 State v. Joseph M. Jaffe (072259)

May a sentencing court consider mitigating evidence arising between defendant’s plea and the sentencing hearing?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: Sept. 8, 2014
  • Decided: Dec. 15, 2014

A-11-13 State v. Bruno Gibson (072257)

Was defendant entitled to a judgment of acquittal on this DWI charge where the municipal court that convicted defendant relied, over defense counsel’s objection, on evidence elicited in a pre-trial suppression hearing?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: March 31, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 16, 2014

A-10-13 Stephanie Washington v. Carlos A. Perez (072522)

Was it reversible error to instruct the jury that it could draw an adverse inference against defendants as a result of their failure to call their medical experts to testify at trial?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: March 17, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 10, 2014

A-8/9-13 Michael J. Barrick, Jr. v. State of New Jersey, Department of Treasury (072795)

In this public bidding case involving a lease for office space, did the agency act arbitrarily in waiving the requirement that the site be within a specific distance from public transportation and awarding the lease to the lowest bidder; and if so, was the appropriate remedy to require that the lease be awarded to the second lowest bidder or rebid?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: May 6, 2014
  • Decided: July 23, 2014

A-7-13 Janet Henebema v. South Jersey Transportation Authority and New Jersey State Police (072545)

Does an erroneous jury charge on a public entity’s standard of care under the Tort Claims Act require retrial on only the public entity’s liability, or is a retrial on the comparative negligence and liability for all parties also required?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: March 31, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 29, 2014

A-6-13 Liberty House Nursing Home of Jersey City, Inc. d/b/a Liberty House Nursing Home v. GRE Jersey City, Inc. (072598)

Does an exemption to the certificate of need requirement under the Health Care Facilities Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-1 et seq., belong to the tenant who established and operated the exempted nursing home or to the landlord of the property on which the nursing home is operated; and if the exemption belongs to the landlord, does equity require the landlord to pay the tenant operator for the value of the established business?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 11, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 12, 2013
  • Argued: May 6, 2014
  • Order Dismissed as improvidently granted : May 20, 2014

A-5-13 Maryann Cottrell v. Zagami, LLC d/b/a The Landmark Americana Tap & Grill (072235)

Does the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-1 to -2, apply to defendants not acting under color of State law?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 10, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 10, 2013
  • Argued: Jan. 21, 2014
  • Order dismissed as improvidently granted : May 21, 2014

A-3/4-13 State v. Michael Sumulikoski/State v. Artur Sopel (072957)

Does New Jersey have territorial jurisdiction to try New Jersey teachers who had sexual contact with New Jersey high school students in Germany while chaperoning a school trip?

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  • Leave to appeal granted : Sept. 10, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 10, 2013
  • Argued: Sept. 24, 2014
  • Decided: March 18, 2015

A-2-13 Deborah F. Townsend v. Noah Pierre (072357)

Can the conclusion of plaintiff’s expert that overgrown bushes on the corner of the property were the proximate cause of the accident serve to defeat the property owners’ motion for summary judgment when the only witnesses’ deposition testimony was that the bushes did not obstruct the view?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 10, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 10, 2013
  • Argued: Oct. 21, 2014
  • Decided: March 12, 2015

A-1-13 Beverly Maeker v. William S. Ross (072185)

Does the 2010 amendment to the Statute of Frauds, N.J.S.A. 25:1-5(h), which requires a writing memorializing palimony agreements and independent advice of counsel prior to executing such an agreement, apply to bar enforcement of oral agreements that existed before adoption of the amendment?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 10, 2013
  • Posted: Sept. 10, 2013
  • Argued: May 5, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 25, 2014

A-76-12 State v.T.J.M. (072419)

Did evidentiary errors and prosecutorial misconduct occur that cumulatively prejudiced defendant’s right to a fair trial in light of the weight of the evidence against him?

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  • Appeal as of right (Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: Aug. 16, 2013
  • Argued: Sept. 8, 2014
  • Decided: Jan. 13, 2015

A-75-12 State v. John C. Blann (07220146)

Where defendant requested through his attorney in open court that his right to be tried by a jury be waived, was his conviction properly reversed because of the absence of a written jury waiver under Rule 1:8-1(a) and an express and understanding waiver by defendant personally on the record?

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  • Appeal as of right (Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: Aug. 16, 2013
  • Argued: April 9, 2014
  • Decided: May 28, 2014

A-74-12 State in the Interest of A.B. (072873)

Was defendant properly granted access into the sexual assault victim's home to inspect the crime scene based on his constitutional right to a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense in light of the crime victim's rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Victim's Rights Amendment to the New Jersey Constitution, and the Crime Victim's Bill of Rights, N.J.S.A. 52:4B-34 to -38?

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  • Leave to appeal granted : July 9, 2013
  • Posted: July 9, 2013
  • Argued: March 18, 2014
  • Decided: Sept. 24, 2014