An Appeal About Whether a Case is Immediately Appealable, and Two Others for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in three more cases. One of them, Harris v. City of Newark, involves an appellate practice issue. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is ” Is a trial court order denying qualified immunity under the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-2, immediately appealable to the Appellate Division as of right, notwithstanding the absence of a final judgment?” In an unpublished order, a two-judge panel of the Appellate Division ruled that the appeal by defendants was interlocutory, as it was not from a final order. Accordingly, the panel dismissed the notice of appeal.

In Rivera v. Union County Prosecutor’s Office, the question presented is “Are the police department internal affairs reports at issue subject to disclosure under the Open Public Records Act and the common law right of access?” A two-judge panel of the Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, said “no.”

Finally, State v. Bailey presents this question: “Were the text messages exchanged between defendant and her spouse admissible under the crime-fraud exception to the marital privilege, N.J.R.E. 509(2)(e), when those text messages were exchanged prior to adoption of the crime-fraud exception?” An unpublished opinion by a two-judge Appellate Division panel found no error in the admission of the evidence and upheld defendant’s conviction on two counts of second degree official misconduct.