On March 22, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Mercer County case of State v. Andrea Dunbrack. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 was whether under the circumstances of the robbery case a lesser-included theft charge was required to be presented to the jury. Justice Pierre-Louis, my Rutgers Law School classmate, wrote for […]

Justice Fernandez-Vina continued in relevant part: The Court presumes that, as it crafted the SVPA, the Legislature was aware that the courts had interpreted the general civil commitment statute to require psychiatric testimony in support of commitment. The Legislature nevertheless used the exact same phrasing in the SVPA, without a corrective definition, thus reflecting legislative […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court continued in relevant part: The Appellate Division has determined that both N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.13 and Rule 4:74-7(e) require that a psychiatrist on the patient’s treatment team testify at the hearing, and provide medical testimony supporting the need for commitment. Because the SVPA does not define the phrase “to the clinical basis […]

On March 11, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the case of In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of W.W.. The principal issue before the Court was whether the State must present testimony from a psychiatrist in support of the need for continued involuntary commitment of a convicted sexually violent offender at an […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court concluded with the following in relevant part: In his summation, the prosecutor attacked the credibility of defendant’s family members, misrepresenting that they made no attempt to speak with the police at the scene. The prosecutor specifically discredited the mother, arguing that the mother was aware she had to speak with […]

The video recording constituted extrinsic evidence that simultaneously contradicted Detective Domenech’s testimony that she canvassed the crime scene looking for witnesses and supported the family members’ testimony that they attempted to speak to the police. It was admissible under N.J.R.E. 607(a), which permits introduction of relevant extrinsic evidence “for the purpose of attacking or supporting […]

Justice Albin continued in relevant part: Meanwhile, defendant’s mother, stepfather, and sister gathered on the mother’s porch. Their testimony of the events they witnessed paralleled defendant’s. They each testified that they attempted to speak with police at the scene but that “they just wouldn’t listen.” During cross-examination, the prosecutor elicited the same basic responses from […]

On March 10, 2021 the New Jersey Supreme court decided the Hudson County case of State v. Gabriel Garcia. The principal issue involved whether the trial court’s suppression of exculpatory evidence was plain error that required the reversal of the defendant’s convictions. Justice Albin wrote for a unanimous Court in relevant part: The Court considers, […]

Justice Alito concluded in relevant part: The most natural place to look for Congress’s answer to whether rape was “punishable by death” within the meaning of §843(a) is §920’s directive that rape could be “punished by death.” That is so even if the UCMJ’s separate prohibition on “cruel or unusual punishment,” §855, would have been […]

On December 10, 2020 the United States Supreme Court decided the case of U.S. v. Briggs. The principal issue concerned whether the applicable statute of limitations barred the defendants’ prosecution for rape. These were three consolidated cases that presented the same issue. Justice Alito wrote for a unanimous Court in relevant part: The Uniform Code […]