The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in State v. Vega-Larregui. Pursuant to Rule 2:12-1, the Court granted direct certification of a portion of defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment that was pending in the Law Division, Mercer County. The certification is limited to “defendant’s constitutional challenge to the indictment returned by a Grand Jury proceeding that was conducted remotely.” Other aspects of the motion to dismiss “remain pending in the Superior Court, which shall retain jurisdiction to consider those matters.” The Court...

In re Petition for Expungement of the Criminal Record Belonging to T.O., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The first Supreme Court opinion of 2021, issued this morning, was authored by Chief Justice Rabner. The issue, as stated in the first sentence of the opinion, was “the effect of a gubernatorial pardon on request to expunge a criminal record.” The Chief Justice concisely explained the relevant background: “T.O. was convicted of separate crimes in 1994 and 1996. In the decades since, he has been gainfully employed, has made contributions to the community, and has successfully...

State v. Gerena, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted of fourth degree lewdness. A statutory grading element of that offense is that one or more of the children whom witnesses testified were near defendant were under the age of thirteen. To address the age issue, the State offered testimony of witnesses who provided lay opinion as to what they perceived as the children’s ages and heights. Defendant appealed his conviction, primarily on the ground that it was error to admit that lay opinion testimony. In State v. Koettgen, 89 N.J.L. 678 (E. & A. 1916), a...