NJ Appellate Law Blog – NJ Appellate Lawyer Bruce D. Greenberg blogs about Appeals and Appellate Law Practice

Two Supreme Court Rulings in Criminal Appeals

Yesterday and today each saw a decision by the Supreme Court in criminal matters. Today's ruling in State v. Hill, 256 N.J. 266 (2024), authored by Justice Wainer Apter, involved...

Though New Jersey Plaintiff, Not Utah Defendant, Originated Their Business Relationship, New Jersey Still Has Personal Jurisdiction Over Defendant

Allure Pet Products, LLC v. Donnelly Marketing & Development LLC, 477 N.J. Super. 541 (App. Div. 2024). Today's opinion by Judge Sabatino in this case dealt with the question of...

Prosecution for Terroristic Threats: New Jersey Adopts One Component of U.S. Supreme Court's Counterman v. Colorado Decision, While Diverging as to Another Component

State v. Fair, 256 N.J. 213 (2024). "True threats" fall outside constitutional free speech protections. The issue in this case, in which Justice Wainer Apter wrote a unanimous opinion that...

This Week's Published Opinions

Another week, another week where work for clients made it impossible to keep up with the courts. This week featured two unanimous opinions from the Supreme Court, one civil, one...

The End of Last Week

Even as many people were throttling back in anticipation of the long holiday weekend that culminated in Christmas day, the Appellate Division issued three published opinions late last week. Here...

The Supreme Court Affirms in State v. Rosado

State v. Rosado, 256 N.J. 93 (2023). As discussed here, the Appellate Division, in an opinion by Judge Gilson, held that a January 3, 2002 amendment to the criminal statute...

Another Short Week, and Another Catch-Up Post

In the past two weeks, an Appellate Division brief and a Supreme Court petition consumed much time. So, in this shortened Thanksgiving week, it's time to catch up on the...

A Trove of New Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in six new appeals. In two of them, the Court granted leave to appeal. The other two involved grants of certification....

The First Published Appellate Division Decision of the New Term, by Judge Gooden Brown

S.B.B. v. L.B.B., 476 N.J. Super. 575 (App. Div. 2023). Last week saw the first published Appellate Division opinion of the new Term. Judge Gooden Brown authored the opinion. Here...

The First Half of August- Appellate Division Decisions

Continuing the catch-up process begun here and here, this post summarizes the five published Appellate Division decisions issued during the first half of August: Neuwirth v. State of New Jersey,...

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An Arbitration Case and a Cannabis Land Use Appeal for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One of those is from a published Appellate Division decision, while the other appeal is from an unpublished opinion of a two-judge Appellate Division panel....

Murder Trial Judge Inadequately Addressed Juror Misconduct, Requiring Remand to Determine Whether Jury Was Tainted

State v. Byrd, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Noriega authored the Court's unanimous opinion in this case today. During the murder trial that led to this appeal, allegations of misconduct by a certain juror, No. 8, surfaced. That juror allegedly conducted outside research, discussed the case with third parties, texted one of the defendants, and expressed an intent to find defendants guilty. The trial judge questioned Juror No. 8, but on appeal from defendants' convictions, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court's inquiry "was insufficiently tailored to the allegations against the juror, failed to probe into the heart of the allegations, and was therefore inadequate." The Court remanded the case for further proceedings....

Attorney General's Supersession of the Paterson Police Department Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, or Unreasonable

Bulur v. Office of the Attorney General, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). In 2023, after a fatal shooting by Paterson police officers, the New Jersey Attorney General announced on March 27, 2023 that his office was superseding (that is, taking over responsibility for) the Paterson Police Department. Lawsuits were filed and transferred to the Appellate Division. In an opinion reported at 480 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2024), and summarized here, the Appellate Division voided the supersession. Today, the Supreme Court reversed in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson....

Sentencing Counsel's Limited Investigation of Defendant's Citizenship Was Not Constitutionally Ineffective in the Circumstances

State v. Hernandez-Peralta, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Wainer Apter's decision today for a 5-2 Supreme Court majority began by phrasing the issue presented. "In this appeal, we consider whether sentencing counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate defendant's citizenship status beyond asking him if he was a United States citizen and receiving an unequivocal ‘yes,' and therefore not advising him that his plea could make him subject to deportation." The majority found, based on the particular facts, that counsel was not constitutionally ineffective, reversing the two lower courts. Justice Noriega, joined by Justice Fasciale, dissented....