One More Case, An Appeal as of Right, for the Supreme Court

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 the welfare of a child. But the Appellate Division, by a 2-1 vote, reversed that ruling. Due to the dissent in the Appellate Division, the case is now before the Supreme Court on an appeal as of right.