After this post about the Supreme Court’s busy August, that Court decided two more cases. Both were criminal appeals. Here are summaries: State v. Hannah, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This was a case involving murder and other charges. Defendant was found guilty. After a lengthy procedural history, the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to grant post-conviction relief and vacate the conviction. The grounds were that defendant’s counsel rendered constitutionally deficient representation, and that, but for the deficient representation, there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome at...

It had been four weeks since the Supreme Court last took up a new case. But now a new appeal, perhaps the final one to reach the Court in the current term, has joined the docket. That case is State v. O.D.A.-C. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Should defendant’s statement have been suppressed because the detective’s comments while questioning defendant vitiated his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)?” The Law Division denied defendant’s motion to suppress in this case, which involved a charge of endangering...

August is often a busy month for the Supreme Court, as the Justices count down to the new Term by deciding most if not all of the remaining cases from the current Term. This year is no exception. So far, the Court has issued an opinion every weekday (except Fridays, when customarily no opinions of the Court are released) in the first two weeks of August. Here is a rundown of the Court’s August rulings to date: Pritchett v. State, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This unanimous opinion by Justice LaVecchia yesterday affirmed, as modified, an Appellate Division decision that largely upheld a...