D.M.C. v. K.H.G., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). This Family Part appeal involved the dissolution of a marriage that had lasted 31 years. As Judge Mawla described in his opinion, the wife “has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, manic type with psychotic features, schizophrenia, paranoid type, and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. After her initial diagnosis, defendant experienced fifteen psychiatric inpatient hospitalizations, including a breakdown following the filing of the divorce complaint.” As a result, a guardian ad litem (“GAL”) was appointed...

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in six cases. Three of those involve grants of leave to appeal and three are grants of certification. The Court accelerated the schedule for two of the leave to appeal cases. The first of the two accelerated cases is State v. Mackroy-Davis. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Did the trial court abuse its discretion by designating particular periods of excludable time for purposes of calculating the speedy trial deadlines under the Criminal Justice Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 to...

To date, 2022 has not been kind to this blog. Down for a period of time due to malware, and then only partially restored, the blog is now fully ready for the new year. But the New Jersey appellate law world did not stop during that time. Here are some summaries of developments, decisional and otherwise, since January 1: The legislative term expired, and with it Governor Murphy’s nomination of Rachel Wainer Apter to fill Justice LaVecchia’s seat on the Supreme Court. After the new legislative term began, the Governor announced that he would renominate her for the seat. There is...