The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One is a criminal matter and the other a civil case.
The criminal case is State v. Bragg. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Should the jury have been instructed that if defendant was in his own dwelling, then he had no duty to retreat unless he was the initial aggressor, and if so, was the failure to provide that instruction plain error?” Convicted of multiple crimes, including attempted murder, kidnapping, and other charges, defendant appealed to the Appellate Division, asserting that the jury should have been instructed that if defendant was in his own dwelling, he had no duty to retreat but had the right to use deadly force. In an unpublished per curiam opinion by a three-judge panel, the Appellate Division affirmed the convictions, finding that there was substantial evidence that the dwelling at issue was not that of defendant, and that regardless of that problem, the evidence did not support his claim of self-defense.
The civil case is Bank of America, N.A. v. Maher. That case presents this question: “If an installment contract has an optional acceleration clause, does the statute of limitations for a breach of contract claim begin to run when the borrower makes its last payment, or when the lender accelerates the debt?” The Law Division granted summary judgment to plaintiff, holding that its complaint was timely filed. On defendant’s appeal, a two-judge panel of the Appellate Division affirmed in an unpublished per curiam opinion.