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Find Supreme Court appeal cases here. The most recent cases are listed first. You can also use the search tool to find a specific case.

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-9-14 State v. William L. Witt (074468)

Did the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, as articulated in State v. Pena-Flores, 198 N.J. 6 (2009), apply to permit the search of defendant’s vehicle and seizure of the handgun from the console?

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  • Leave to appeal granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: April 14, 2015
  • Decided: Sept. 23, 2015

A-8-14 State v. Scott M. Cain (074124)

Did the assumed facts of a hypothetical posed to the prosecutor’s drug expert invade the jury’s province of deciding the ultimate issues; and was defendant denied a fair trial when the jury heard extensive testimony that police had obtained a warrant for his arrest and warrants to search his automobile and residence?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: Oct. 26, 2015
  • Decided: March 15, 2016

A-7-14 State v. Eric B. Obugyei (073719)

Was defendant’s fourteen-year sentence for kidnapping illegal under the circumstances presented?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: Dec. 3, 2014
  • Matter withdrawn : Dec. 7, 2014

A-6-14 State v. Elise N. Munafo (07420142)

Is an essential element of the offense of endangering a helpless victim, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.2(a), that a defendant’s flight from the scene increased the risk that further harm would come to the victim left in a vulnerable state?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: March 17, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 5, 2015

A-5-14 Cathleen Quinn v. David J. Quinn (074411)

Under the circumstances presented, was defendant entitled to terminate his alimony payments, pursuant to the divorce settlement agreement, based upon plaintiff’s cohabitation?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: Oct. 13, 2015
  • Decided: May 3, 2016

A-4-14 Red Bull Arena, Inc. v. Town of Harrison (074431)

Is the operation of Red Bull Arena within The Harrison Redevelopment Agency and the Hudson County Improvement Authority's statutory mandates, and thus, entitled to property tax exemptions?

  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Dismissed by stipulation of the parties : Dec. 23, 2016

A-3-14 IMO the Estate of Adrian J. Folcher, Jr. (074590)

In the context of this probate contest, was the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees to the estate proper where the person who exerted “undue influence" on the decedent was not in the fiduciary position of executor or trustee?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: Nov. 9, 2015
  • Decided: April 26, 2016

A-2-14 IMO the Expungement of the Criminal Record of G.P.B. (074541)

Do multiple crimes committed over the course of two days constitute “a crime" for expungement purposes within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(a), as opposed to “prior or subsequent crime[s]," which would preclude the expungement of any or all of them?

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  • Certification granted : Sept. 25, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 26, 2014
  • Argued: March 2, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 10, 2015

A-1-14 Gold Medal Bakery, Inc. v. Super Bread II Corp. (074472)

In the context of this suit alleging fraud and seeking to pierce the corporate veil, should a protective order be issued prohibiting inquiry into the immigration status of the owner and president of a corporate defendant?

  • Leave to appeal granted : Sept. 9, 2014
  • Posted: Sept. 9, 2014
  • Dismissed by stipulation of the parties : July 28, 2015

A-118-13 State v. David Bass (072669)

Were the defendant’s state or federal confrontation rights violated by the testimony of an assistant medical examiner who referenced the findings of an autopsy that had been performed by a now-deceased medical examiner?

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  • Certification granted : Aug. 6, 2014
  • Posted: Aug. 7, 2014
  • Argued: Oct. 13, 2015
  • Decided: March 7, 2016

A-117-13 K.G. v. M.S. (074527)

In the context of an uncontested custody action seeking factual findings that will serve as a basis for Special Immigrant Juvenile status under the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act, U.S.C. § 1101-1537, did the lower courts err in determining that the petitioner had not established that "reunification with one or both of the immigrant's parents is not viable"?

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  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Argued: April 24, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 26, 2015

A-116-13 Torres v. Pabon (074307)

Among other issues related to the trial of this personal injury matter, did defendant's failure to testify justify an adverse inference charge (State v. Clawans, 38 N.J. 20162 (1962)), under the circumstances presented?

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  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Argued: Nov. 10, 2015
  • Decided: June 1, 2016

A-115-13 State v. Richard Willis (073908)

Under the circumstances presented, was testimony of defendant's prior act of sexual assault admissible in this sexual assault trial, pursuant to N.J.R.E. 404(b), to prove defendant's intent?

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  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Argued: Oct. 7, 2015
  • Decided: May 11, 2016

A-114-13 H.S.P. v. J.K. (074241)

In the context of an uncontested custody action seeking factual findings that will serve as a basis for Special Immigrant Juvenile status under the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act, U.S.C. § 1101-1537, did the lower courts err in determining that the petitioner had not established that "reunification with one or both of the immigrant's parents is not viable"?

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  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Argued: April 14, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 26, 2015

A-113-13 Morris County Improvement Auth. & Somerset County Improvement Auth. v. Power Partners Mastec, LLC (072838)

Under the circumstances presented, were defendant's municipal mechanics' liens, filed pursuant to the Municipal Mechanics' Lien Law (N.J.S.A. 2A:44 128), barred by the County Improvement Authorities Law (N.J.S.A. 40:37A 127), and were defendant's construction liens, filed pursuant to the Construction Lien Law (N.J.S.A. 2A:44A 2), viable pursuant to that statute?

  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Dismissed by stipulation of the parties : May 22, 2015

A-112-13 State v. Howard Jones (073827)

In this case involving a show-up identification shortly after the defendant allegedly exposed himself to the victim, did the Appellate Division properly apply the factors established in Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 12014, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed. 2d 20140 (1977), to conclude that the victim's identification was not impermissibly suggestive?

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  • Certification granted : July 28, 2014
  • Posted: July 28, 2014
  • Argued: Sept. 16, 2015
  • Decided: Jan. 20, 2016

A-111-13 State v. Thomas Shannon (074315)

When police make an arrest in good-faith reliance on a seemingly valid arrest warrant, must evidence arising from a search incident to the arrest be suppressed if the warrant is later discovered to be invalid due to a clerical error?

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  • Leave to appeal granted : July 18, 2014
  • Posted: July 21, 2014
  • Argued: April 27, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 19, 2015

A-110-13 Anthony C. Major v. Julie Maguire (074345)

When adjudicating an application for grandparent visitation, under what circumstances must the trial court follow the procedural guidelines articulated in the Appellate Division's recent decision, R.K. v. D.L., Jr., 434 N.J. Super. 113 (App. Div. 2014)?

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  • Certification granted : July 18, 2014
  • Posted: July 21, 2014
  • Argued: Sept. 17, 2015
  • Decided: Jan. 12, 2016

A-109-13 Department of Children and Families v. E.D.-O. (07392016)

Did a parent fail to exercise the minimum degree of care required by N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21(c)(4)(b) when she left her nineteen-month-old child unattended in a motor vehicle while she entered a nearby store?

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  • Certification granted : July 18, 2014
  • Posted: July 21, 2014
  • Argued: April 27, 2015
  • Decided: Aug. 20, 2015

A-108-13 State v. R.P. (073796)

Having determined that defendant’s conviction for first-degree aggravated sexual assault had to be vacated, was the Appellate Division required to mold the verdict to second-degree sexual assault under the circumstances presented?

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  • Certification granted : July 10, 2014
  • Posted: July 11, 2014
  • Argued: Sept. 16, 2015
  • Decided: Dec. 14, 2015