Criminal Law Blog
Expunged Records and Negligent Hiring Claims
On March 16, 2023, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Hudson County case of Y.H. and K.W.C. v. T.C., Uber Technologies. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-1 concerned resolving a conflict between the expungement statute and a statue barring rideshare...
Affirmative Defenses and Jury Unanimity (Part 4)
The Court concluded with the following: Finally, in State v. Gentry, the State presented evidence that during a theft, the defendant used force against a store employee, Tiffany Davis, and store manager, David Lowe. During deliberations, the jury sent out a note,...
Affirmative Defenses and Jury Unanimity (Part 3)
The New Jersey Supreme Court continued in relevant part: We agree with the Appellate Division that unlike in Frisby, the State here did not rely on contradictory theories and "did not try to prove that defendant committed the crime by presenting different theories...
Affirmative Defenses and Jury Unanimity (Part 2)
The New Jersey Supreme Court continued in relevant part: Under this Court's precedent, a specific unanimity instruction may be required when, for example: (1) a criminal offense "can be proven by different theories," based on different acts, relying on different...
Affirmative Defenses and Jury Unanimity (Part 1)
On March 16, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Union County case of State v. Macchia. The principal issue before the Court under N.J.S.A. 2C:1-13 was whether a unanimous verdict rejecting self-defense was sufficient to sustain defendant’s conviction for...
Marijuana Charges and Diversionary Programs (Part 4)
The New Jersey Supreme Court concluded with the following: The Appellate Division's pre-CREAMMA opinions in McKeon and O'Brien, do not control the analysis of defendants' circumstances. Neither opinion involved defendants who, as in the cases now before us, had...
Marijuana Charges and Diversionary Programs (Part 3)
Judge Sabatino continued in relevant part: Consistent with the "clean slate" public policies underlying CREAMMA and its companion laws, the Legislature logically gave special emphasis to the pretrial detention and bail setting to assure that arrestees with a marijuana...
Marijuana Charges and Diversionary Programs (Part 2)
The New Jersey Supreme Court continued in relevant part: Our analysis is not an implied repeal. Instead, it is the discharge of our "affirmative duty to reconcile" the various legislative pronouncements, In re Referendum on Trenton Ord. 09-02 (2010), "so as to give...
Marijuana Charges and Diversionary Programs (Part 1)
On February 14, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the joint Middlesex and Morris County cases of State v. Richard Gomes. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-12 was whether a prior conditional discharge for a marijuana offense barred Pretrial Intervention...
Witness Tampering
On January 23, 2023, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Hudson County case of State v. William Hill. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:28-5 concerned whether the witness tampering statute was unconstitutionally vague by employing a "reasonable person"...