As discussed here, last year the Appellate Division addressed the “unsettled” question of which should come first in a criminal case involving a juvenile sought to be tried as an adult: a suppression motion in the Family Part or a waiver to the Criminal Part? The Appellate Division declined to adopt a bright line rule, instead observing that trial judges have substantial discretion in setting their calendars, and that the order in which to proceed is a “discretionary, highly contextual decision” dependent on the particular circumstances. The court stated, however,...

State v. Wade, ___ N.J. ___ (2022). As Justice Solomon said in his unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today in this murder case, New Jersey courts “rarely find an error to be harmless when the State violates a defendant’s right against self-incrimination. That is not only because the right to counsel is so precious, but also because self-inculpatory statements are powerful evidence of guilt that is not easily overcome” (citation omitted). As a result, a suspect’s statements made after detectives fail to cease questioning once the suspect invokes the right to counsel...

The Supreme Court announced that it will consider three new matters. Two of those involved grants of certification, while the third was an appeal as of right. The appeal as of right is State v. Fair. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Is the portion of the terroristic threats statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3(a), which criminalizes a threat to commit a crime of violence made ‘in reckless disregard of the risk of causing . . . terror,’ unconstitutionally overbroad and did the jury instructions fail to ensure a unanimous verdict?”...