On March 22, 2019, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Camden county case of State v. B.A. The principal issue was whether New Jersey’s stalking statute is unconstitutionally overbroad or vague. Judge Suter held in relevant part as follows. Defendant challenges the anti-stalking statute as unconstitutionally overbroad and vague both facially and as applied. When […]

Justice Timpone continued: The State argues that the failure to remove the lock here was analogous to conduct that we found violative in State v. Lashinsky (1979). In that case, we addressed a defendant’s conviction for disorderly conduct for disobeying an officer’s command to leave the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident. The defendant, […]

The Court continued: The appellate panel relied heavily on Reece, but we find the conduct at issue in that case distinguishable from Fede’s refusal to unchain his door. In Reece, officers responded after receiving a dropped 9-1-1 call originating from Reece’s home. Officers sought warrantless entry into Reece’s home to conduct a welfare check under […]

The Supreme Court continued: Questions of statutory interpretation are legal ones. Our review of a trial court’s legal conclusions is de novo and “unconstrained by deference to the decisions of the trial court or the appellate panel.” Principles of statutory construction guide our analysis. Our primary goal in interpreting a statute is to determine to […]

On March 12, 2019, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Bergen County case of State v. Andrew Fede. The principal issue was whether the defendant could be convicted of obstructing the administration of law for failing to obey a lawful police order to allow entry by removing the chain lock on his front door. […]