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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-50-19 State v. Michelle Lodzinski (083398)

Was it reversible error to remove and replace a juror who conducted outside research and was there sufficient evidence in the record to support defendant’s murder conviction?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 20, 2020
  • Posted: Feb. 21, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 27, 2020
  • Decided: May 26, 2021
  • Reconsideration granted : Jan. 1, 1970
  • Reargued: Oct. 25, 2021
  • Redecided : Dec. 28, 2021

A-49-19 Kim Allen v. Cape May County (083295)

In this action alleging retaliation under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 34:19-1 to -8, were there material issues of fact that precluded the grant of summary judgment to defendants?

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  • Appeal as of right(Appellate Division dissent)
  • Posted: Feb. 14, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 14, 2020
  • Decided: May 12, 2021

A-48-19 Kim Goulding v. NJ Friendship House, Inc. (083726)

Is this employee entitled to benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically N.J.S.A. 34:15-7, for injuries that occurred while she was volunteering at her employer’s “Family Fun Day” event?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 14, 2020
  • Posted: Feb. 14, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 13, 2020
  • Decided: Feb. 8, 2021

A-47-19 State v. Gabriel Garcia (083568)

Did the exclusion of a video showing members of defendant’s family attempting to speak with police officers at the scene of the incident, and the prosecutor’s statement during summation pertaining to whether defendant’s family attempted to speak to the police at the scene, deprive defendant of a fair trial?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 6, 2020
  • Posted: Feb. 10, 2020
  • Argued: Nov. 9, 2020
  • Decided: March 10, 2021

A-46-19 State v. Damon Williams (083532)

Did the State’s summation, in which the prosecutor used a still photograph from the movie The Shining and compared defendant’s conduct to that of the character depicted in the photograph, constitute prosecutorial misconduct requiring reversal of defendant’s conviction?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 6, 2020
  • Posted: Feb. 10, 2020
  • Argued: Sept. 29, 2020
  • Decided: Jan. 19, 2021

A-45-19 In re Renewal Application of TEAM Academy Charter School (083014)

Were the Commissioner of Education’s decisions to approve student enrollment increases at seven charter schools in Newark arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable?

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  • Certification granted : Feb. 6, 2020
  • Posted: Feb. 10, 2020
  • Argued: April 26, 2021
  • Decided: June 22, 2021

A-44-19 State v. Mark Melvin (083298)

May a sentencing judge consider a defendant’s conduct where the jury acquitted defendant of the underlying crimes?

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  • Certification granted : Jan. 31, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 31, 2020
  • Argued: Feb. 1, 2021
  • Decided: Sept. 23, 2021

A-43-19 State v. Herby V. Desir (083584)

To what extent was the State obligated to provide discovery in connection with defendant’s challenge to the search warrant in this matter?

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  • Certification granted : Jan. 31, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 31, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 13, 2020
  • Decided: Feb. 9, 2021

A-41/42-19 Moshe Rozenblit v. Marcia V. Lyles (083434)

Does this collective bargaining agreement’s release time provision, which requires the Board of Education to pay the salaries and benefits of two teachers who devoted all of their work-time to the business affairs of the Jersey City Education Association, violate public policy, statutory authority (N.J.S.A. 18A:30-7), and/or the State Constitution (N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 3, ¶¶ 2-3)?



Certification granted
Posted
Argued
Decided
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  • Certification granted : Jan. 31, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 31, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 13, 2020
  • Decided: Feb. 3, 2021

A-40-19 State v. Louis V. Williams (083400)

Does a resident of a boarding or rooming house have a reasonable expectation of privacy in areas beyond his or her bedroom door, e.g., in common hallways?

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  • Certification granted : Jan. 24, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 27, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 14, 2020
  • Decided: Nov. 2, 2020

A-39-19 State v. Hakum Brown; State v. Rodney Brown (083353)

Can defendants who were sentenced for their underlying sex offenses prior to 2007, when failure to register was a fourth-degree offense, be charged with third-degree failure to register under the 2007 amendment to Megan’s Law upgrading the degree of the offense?

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  • Certification granted : Jan. 24, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 27, 2020
  • Argued: Oct. 14, 2020
  • Decided: Jan. 25, 2020

A-38-19 State v. Thomas H. Outland (083242)

Did the decision not to let defendant represent himself at trial violate his constitutional rights?

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  • Certification granted : Jan. 24, 2020
  • Posted: Jan. 27, 2020
  • Argued: Sept. 30, 2020
  • Decided: March 16, 2021

A-37-19 State v. Amrit Singh (083236)

Was the detective’s narration of a surveillance video and identification of defendant in the video improper lay-witness opinion testimony constituting plain error?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 10, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 10, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 29, 2020
  • Decided: Jan. 21, 2021

A-36-19 State v. B.C.S. (083231)

Were defendant’s confessions during a consensual intercept and subsequent police interview voluntary?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 10, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 10, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 30, 2020
  • Dismissed by Order : Oct. 7, 2020

A-34/35-19 Anasia Maison v. NJ Transit Corporation and Kelvin Coats (083484)

Does the common carrier standard of negligence apply to New Jersey Transit buses and drivers; were defendants immune under the Tort Claims Act; and should the jury have been directed to allocate fault to the unidentified tortfeasor?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 10, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 10, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 29, 2020
  • Decided: Feb. 17, 2021

A-33-19 Christian Mission John 316 v. Passaic City (083487)

Was plaintiff’s property actually used for religious purposes prior to the tax assessment date and therefore exempt from local property taxes for the 2013 tax year under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 10, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 10, 2019
  • Argued: April 28, 2020
  • Decided: July 15, 2020

A-32-19 Bank Leumi USA v. Edward J. Kloss (083372)

When a party filed, in lieu of an answer, a motion to dismiss under Rule 4:6-2(e) for failure to state a claim, and the court dismissed with prejudice, is that party subject to claim preclusion when—in a later suit that it files arising from the same transactional facts—the defendant asserts the entire controversy doctrine as an affirmative defense?

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  • Question of law certified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, accepted : Dec. 5, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 5, 2019
  • Argued: April 27, 2020
  • Decided: July 21, 2020

A-31-19 State v. Donnell Gideon (083178)

Did trial counsel’s deficient performance, namely the failure to investigate a potential alibi defense, prejudice defendant under the second prong of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 5, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 5, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 14, 2020
  • Decided: Jan. 14, 2021

A-30-19 Brian Delaney v. Trent S. Dickey and Sills Cummis & Gross, PC (083440)

Under the circumstances presented, was the arbitration clause in the attorney-client retainer agreement unenforceable because it violated the Rules of Professional Conduct?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 5, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 5, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 15, 2020
  • Decided: Dec. 21, 2020

A-29-19 Elmer Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy (083379)

In this class action alleging a failure to pay overtime wages in violation of the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, is the good-faith defense, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a25.2, available to defendant based on determinations made by employees of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development?

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  • Certification granted : Dec. 5, 2019
  • Posted: Dec. 5, 2019
  • Argued: Sept. 30, 2020
  • Decided: Jan. 13, 2021