Two More Criminal Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two more criminal cases. Both are homicides.

In State v. Derry, which actually involves two consolidated cases, the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Should defendants’ motions to dismiss the indictment under N.J.S.A. 2C:1-3(f) and or N.J.S.A. 2C:1-11 have been granted because they were sentenced to life in prison in a related federal case and was the admission of testimony defining slang terminology without the witness being qualified as an expert harmless error?” In an unpublished per curiam opinion, a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division affirmed defendants’ convictions for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but corrected the judgment to reflect that the conspiracy convictions merge with the crime of murder.

The other new appeal is State v. Rivas. The question presented there, in which defendant was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the lesser-included defense of aggravated manslaughter, is “Did the suppression of defendant’s statement to police for the violation of his right to counsel require the suppression of defendant’s later statements to police, which were made the following day?” The Appellate Division, in an unpublished per curiam opinion by a two-judge panel, affirmed defendant’s conviction.