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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-63-17 Frances Green v. Monmouth University (080612)

Under the circumstances presented, was Monmouth University, a non-profit educational institution, entitled to summary judgment on the ground of charitable immunity, where plaintiff allegedly was injured while attending a concert on University property?

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  • Appeal as of Right (Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: April 17, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 3, 2019
  • Decided: May 7, 2019

A-61/62-17 L.R. v. Camden City Public School District (080333)

Are plaintiffs—the mother of a student with a disability and a nonprofit advocacy organization—entitled to obtain from several school districts redacted copies of settlement agreements and records reflecting the provision of special services to other qualified students?

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  • Certification granted : April 17, 2018
  • Posted: April 17, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 28, 2019
  • Decided: July 17, 2018

A-60-17 State v. Dwight M. Nelson a/k/a Nelson Dwight (080159)

Under the circumstances presented, did the police have a reasonable articulable suspicion to stop defendant’s car; and were defendant’s rights violated when officers conducted a canine sniff during the course of the stop?

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  • Certification granted : March 26, 2018
  • Posted: March 27, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 28, 2019
  • Decided: May 8, 2019

A-59-17 State v. L.H. (079974)

Was defendant’s statement to police obtained voluntarily where officers suggested that defendant would receive counseling and would not be jailed if he spoke with them; and, should one victim’s out-of-court identification have been suppressed for failure to comply with the recording requirements of Rule 3:11 and the principles established in State v. Delgado, 188 N.J. 48 (2006)?

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  • Certification granted : March 26, 2018
  • Posted: March 27, 2018
  • Argued: March 11, 2019
  • Decided: July 22, 2019

A-58-17 State v. Davon M. Johnson (080394)

Did the State err in denying defendant’s application for admission into the Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI), based, in part, on its determination that defendant was presumptively ineligible for PTI because he was charged with third-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute in a school zone?

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  • Certification granted : March 26, 2018
  • Posted: March 27, 2018
  • Argued: March 11, 2019
  • Decided: May 30, 2019

A-56/57-17 State v. Kwesi Green (080562)

Is an out-of-court identification obtained using the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) system subject to the requirements of Rule 3:11, which governs the record of an out-of-court identification procedure?

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  • Certification granted : March 23, 2018
  • Posted: March 27, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 2, 2019
  • Decided: July 23, 2019

A-55-17 Jennifer Kocanowski v. Township of Bridgewater (080510)

Is claimant, a volunteer firefighter, entitled to temporary disability payments for injuries that occurred when she was unemployed and therefore not earning a wage?

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  • Certification granted : March 14, 2018
  • Posted: March 14, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 3, 2019
  • Decided: Feb. 19, 2019

A-54-17 State v. Rainlin Vasco (080426)

Under the circumstances presented, did defendant provide an adequate factual basis for his guilty plea to fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(d)?

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  • Appeal as of right (Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: March 12, 2018
  • Argued: Oct. 9, 2018
  • Decided: Oct. 30, 2018

A-53-17 State v. Andrew J. Fede (079997)

Can defendant be guilty of obstruction of justice, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1, for refusing to unlock the door to his residence and allowing police to enter to investigate a 911 report?

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  • Certification granted : March 12, 2018
  • Posted: March 12, 2018
  • Argued: Nov. 27, 2018
  • Decided: March 12, 2019

A-52-17 Patricia J. McClain v. Board of Review (080397)

Must an employee actually start new employment to be exempt from disqualification for unemployment benefits under N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a), which exempts “an individual who voluntarily leaves work with one employer to accept from another employer employment which commences not more than seven days after the individual leaves . . . the first employer”?

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  • Certification granted : March 9, 2018
  • Posted: March 9, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 14, 2019
  • Decided: April 29, 2019

A-51-17 State v. Nicholas Kiriakakis (080100)

Did the imposition of a parole ineligibility term violate Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013), under the circumstances presented?

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  • Certification granted : March 9, 2018
  • Posted: March 9, 2018
  • Argued: Sept. 13, 2018
  • Decided: Nov. 5, 2018

A-50-17 Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. A.S.K., T.T., and E.M.C. (079700)

In this matter concerning the termination of E.M.C.’s parental rights to his son, did the Division prove the four prongs of the best interest test, N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1(a), under the circumstances presented?

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  • Appeal as of right (Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: March 9, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 2, 2019
  • Decided: Jan. 23, 2019

A-49-17 Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank NA (080669)

Does a life insurance policy that is procured with the intent to benefit persons without an insurable interest in the life of the insured violate the public policy of New Jersey, and if so, is that policy void ab initio; and if such a policy is void ab initio, is a later purchaser of the policy, who was not involved in the illegal conduct, entitled to a refund of any premium payments that they made on the policy?

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  • Question of law certified by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, accepted : March 9, 2018
  • Posted: March 9, 2018
  • Argued: Jan. 29, 2019
  • Decided: June 4, 2019

A-48-17 State v. Shaquan Hyppolite (080302)

In this criminal justice reform matter, did the State withhold exculpatory evidence from defendant at the time of the detention hearing, and, if so, what is the appropriate remedy under the circumstances where defendant since has been indicted?

[Note: This appeal has been accelerated by order of the Court dated 3/8/18, and no supplemental briefing is scheduled. Any motion for leave to appear amicus curiae shall be served and filed with the proposed amicus brief on or before 4/11/18, and any answer by the State or defendant shall be served and filed with the proposed brief in response on or before 5/11/18. No further submissions shall be accepted unless requested by the Court.]

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  • Leave to appeal granted : March 8, 2018
  • Posted: March 9, 2018
  • Argued: Sept. 13, 2018
  • Decided: Dec. 11, 2018

A-47-17 Maria Pulice v. Greenbrook Sports & Fitness, LLC, et. al. (079923)

Did the trial court properly dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint seeking damages for injuries suffered at defendant’s health club based on the waiver signed by Maria Pulice?

  • Certification granted : March 2, 2018
  • Posted: March 2, 2018
  • Dismissed by stipulation of the parties : Nov. 14, 2018

A-46-17 Evangelos Dimitrakopoulos v. Borrus, Goldin, Foley, Vignuolo, Hyman and Stahl, P.C. (080357)

Did the entire controversy doctrine require that plaintiffs pursue their malpractice action as a defense or counterclaim in defendants’ prior action against plaintiffs for the collection of attorneys’ fees?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 9, 2018
  • Posted: Feb. 12, 2018
  • Argued: Oct. 10, 2018
  • Decided: March 7, 2019

A-44/45-17 State v. Guilermo Santamaria (079934)

Did the State’s introduction of more than fifty sexually explicit photographs, which were taken after the victim turned eighteen, for the purpose of establishing the existence of a sexual relationship between defendant and the victim when the victim was a minor, constitute plain error that required the reversal of defendant’s convictions for sexual assault; and was it reversible error for the State to comment in summation on defendant’s silence when he was confronted by the victim during a recorded conversation?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 9, 2018
  • Posted: Feb. 12, 2018
  • Argued: Sept. 27, 2018
  • Decided: Jan. 16, 2019

A-43-17 Barbara Orientale v. Darrin L. Jennings (079953)

Did the trial court apply the appropriate standard and analysis in determining an award of additur?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 9, 2018
  • Posted: Feb. 12, 2018
  • Argued: Oct. 9, 2018
  • Reargued: April 24, 2019
  • Decided: Sept. 23, 2019

A-41/42-17 State v. Donna M. Alessi (079255)

Did police engage in an unconstitutional traffic stop and seizure that required the suppression of defendant’s statements and reversal of her convictions on the charges of filing false reports and hindering; did the admission of defendant’s statements also require reversal of her burglary conviction?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 9, 2018
  • Posted: Feb. 12, 2018
  • Argued: Nov. 7, 2018
  • Reargued: Oct. 7, 2019
  • Decided: Jan. 27, 2020

A-40-17 State v. Adrian A. Vincenty (079978)

Was defendant’s waiver of his Miranda rights knowing and voluntary where police officers failed to advise him in advance of the waiver that a criminal complaint had been filed against him?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 9, 2018
  • Posted: Feb. 12, 2018
  • Argued: Oct. 23, 2018
  • Decided: March 11, 2019