- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANIBAL GARCIA-JEREZ (16-09-0969, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) A-1538-21 Appellate April 5, 2023
- KELLY SUTLIFF VS. CLIFTON BOARD OF EDUCATION (L-3244-18, PASSAIC COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-1919-21 Appellate April 5, 2023
- JADE LANDSCAPING SERVICES, LLC VS. DR. ANI KALFAYAN, ET AL. (DC-013909-21, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-2906-21 Appellate April 5, 2023
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. MARESE WASHINGTON, JR. (22-05-0340, CUMBERLAND COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-0733-22 Appellate April 5, 2023 Summary A-0733-22 At issue in this appeal is whether a warrant is required to seize a vehicle pursuant to the plain-view exception. The court granted the State leave to appeal from a Law Division order, which suppressed evidence seized from a motor vehicle that police believed defendant used during the commission of a fatal shooting. The motion judge essentially reasoned police improperly impounded the car because probable cause did not arise spontaneously prior to the warrantless seizure. The judge suppressed the evidence seized, following issuance of a warrant to search the car, as fruit of the poisonous tree. The State argued police were permitted to seize the vehicle pursuant to the plain-view exception to the warrant requirement while they awaited issuance of the search warrant. The State further contended the "unforeseeability and spontaneity" requirement espoused in State v. Witt , 223 N.J. 409 (2015), applies to the automobile – not the plain-view – exception to the warrant requirement. The court concludes the motion judge mistakenly conflated the discrete rules for the warrantless search and seizure of an automobile, and erroneously reintroduced the inadvertence prong of the plain-view exception to the warrant requirement, eliminated by our Supreme Court in State v. Gonzales , 227 N.J. 77 (2016). The court therefore reverses the Law Division order and remands for further proceedings. Close
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. CEATTA A. THOMAS (W-2023-0046-0320, BURLINGTON COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) A-2006-22 Appellate April 5, 2023
- JOEL MESTRE VS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, ETC. (PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM) A-3181-20 Appellate April 6, 2023
- J.D. VS. A.M.W. (FV-04-0695-22, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) A-1269-21 Appellate April 6, 2023 Summary A-1269-21 Plaintiff appeals from the order of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family Part, Camden County's dismissing her domestic violence complaint against defendant. The Family Part found plaintiff failed to satisfy her burden under the second prong of Silver v. Silver , 387 N.J. Super. 112 (App. Div. 2006). On appeal, plaintiff argued the trial court misapplied the facts to the law regarding Silver 's "second inquiry." The court concluded plaintiff satisfied her burden under both prongs of Silver , and also held the Family Part erred when it considered whether plaintiff's current husband and defendant's father could protect her in the future, when the proper focus of a Silver "second inquiry" should be on defendant's likelihood to continue his course of abusive behavior, not whether external factors exist which might thwart defendant's efforts to continue the abuse. The court reversed and remanded to the Family Part for entry of a final restraining order against defendant. Close
- S.J.S. VS. R.J.D. (FV-12-0823-22, MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) A-1291-21 Appellate April 6, 2023
- WASHINGTON-HUDSON ASSOCIATES II, LLC VS. TOWN SPORTS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC. (L-1609-21, HUDSON COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-1357-21 Appellate April 6, 2023
- STEPHANIE ANGUS VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. (NEW JERSEY COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION) A-1979-21 Appellate April 6, 2023 Summary A-1979-21 The court affirms the New Jersey Commissioner of Education's final agency decision finding petitioner Stephanie Angus is entitled to sick leave under N.J.S.A. 18A:30-1 during the period the Board of Education of the Borough of Metuchen excluded Angus from working in her position as a tenured teacher, pursuant to a directive from the New Jersey Department of Health, because of her exposure to a person who tested positive for COVID-19. The court determined Angus qualified for sick leave under N.J.S.A. 18A:30-1's plain language, which in part defines sick leave to include an absence from an employee's "post of duty . . . because he or she has been excluded from school by the school district's medical authorities on account of a contagious disease." The court rejected the Board of Education's claim N.J.S.A. 18A:30-1 qualifies an employee for sick leave when the employee is excluded from school "on account of a contagious disease" only where the employee personally suffers from the disease. The court reasoned the Board's interpretation is not supported by the statute's plain language. The court also determined acceptance of the Board of Education's interpretation of N.J.S.A. 18A:30-1 would render the exclusion-from-work-on-account-of-a-contagious-disease sick leave qualification superfluous because the statute otherwise separately defines sick leave to include an employee's absence from work where the employee suffers a personal disability due to an illness. Close
- IN THE MATTER OF THE ELEANOR M. WEISBROD ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP (C-000114-21, OCEAN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-2199-21 Appellate April 6, 2023
- P.A. VS. S.A. (FV-02-1747-22, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) A-2675-21 Appellate April 6, 2023
- CHARLES BAKER, ET AL. VS. ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP OF JACKSON, ET AL. (L-2400-19, OCEAN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-1975-20 Appellate April 10, 2023
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. RAYMOND N. BOBEA (18-06-0097, MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-2031-20 Appellate April 10, 2023
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ZABDIEL VARGAS (17-11-0256, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-3008-20 Appellate April 10, 2023
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. KAREEM T. TILLERY (14-06-0084, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-3371-20 Appellate April 10, 2023
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. CHRISTOPHER H. BLANK (06-08-1914, ATLANTIC COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-0423-21 Appellate April 10, 2023
- ADOLFO CUEVAS VS. FRANK PISCIOTTA, ET AL. (L-0915-19, PASSAIC COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-0612-21 Appellate April 10, 2023
- LUPE GONZALEZ VS. WILLIAM ANASTASIO (FM-20-0963-15, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-2277-21 Appellate April 10, 2023
- WILLIAM ZENGEL VS. COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX (L-0629-20, MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) A-3164-21 Appellate April 10, 2023