The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in another criminal matter, a robbery case. The appeal is State v. Watson, and the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Was it harmless error to admit the police officer’s testimony that he consulted with another police department before filing criminal charges against defendant, did the officer’s testimony narrating a surveillance video deprive defendant of a fair trial, and was it plain error to allow the victim to identify defendant for the first time in-court during the trial when...

For the last few days, this blog had been infected with spam posts, on subjects that this blog would normally not discuss, in languages other than English, and/or with more gibberish than usually appears here. The site has now been cleaned and restored to its former ways. My apologies to all for the time that it took, for the fact that some of the spam posts were on subjects that might have been offensive, and for the inconvenience that readers underwent as a result of the hack of this blog. My deepest thanks go to the many readers who wrote to alert me of the problem and offer...

Yesterday, while I was out of action, was the twelfth anniversary of this New Jersey Appellate Law blog. My thanks to the many judges, lawyers, students, and interested laypeople who find the blog useful. I appreciate hearing from you as I have. Due to a number of factors, including professional obligations, personal matters, and the dearth of Supreme Court and Appellate Division opinions so far in the current Term (a situation that is now beginning to change), there have not been as many posts on this blog for the last few months as there normally are. That will soon change. Onward into...