Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for 2020-21, which is available here. Judge Ostrer has replaced Judge Koblitz, who will be retiring, as Presiding Judge of Part C. The other Presiding Judges, who include Judges Sabatino, Fasciale, Alvarez, Messano, Fisher, Yannotti, and Fuentes, remain in place. Judge Messano continues as Presiding Judge for Administration, as does Judge Sabatino as Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration. The eight panels have been rejiggered, as is the case every year. Parts E and F list “TEMPORARY ASSIGNEE” as their fourth member....

State v. Pascucci, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). The strict liability vehicular homicide statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.3d, provides that “[i]t shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the decedent contributed to his own death by reckless or negligent conduct or operation or a motor vehicle or vessel.” Today’s case, however, involved the sentencing context, after defendant pled guilty to strict liability vehicular homicide. An eyewitness had said that the decedent “casually took a few steps … and [then] started sprinting” across a...

The Appellate Division does not issue many opinions in August, as the judges clean up remaining inventory. But there have been some significant published opinions in the last two weeks. Here are summaries of some of those rulings: Harvard v. State, 460 N.J. Super. 433 (App. Div. 2019). Plaintiff in this appeal was a Special Civil Part Officer in the Atlantic/Cape May County vicinage. The vicinage learned of numerous violations of directives of the Administrative Office of the Courts upon an investigation of plaintiff’s financial record. The Assignment Judge of the vicinage terminated...