June 18, 2007

State v. Rahmil O’Neal

5-22-07 (A-94/95-05)

Based on the observations made by law enforcement officers,
there was probable cause to search and arrest O’Neal. The
police officer’s question to O’Neal that elicited his response
without prior Miranda warnings violated Miranda, but was
harmless under the circumstances.

State v. Christopher Romero

5-21-07 (A-109-05)

The jury received ample instruction about the need to examine
carefully the identification made by the eyewitness, and Romero
was not denied a fair trial without a tailored cross-ethnic
identification charge. The Court uses this opportunity to
refine the out-of-court identification charge so that it will
alert jurors in all eyewitness identification cases that such
testimony requires close scrutiny.

State v. Brian Wakefield

5-7-07 (A-37-04)

Wakefield’s penalty phase proceedings were fair, the death
sentence was properly imposed, and his death sentence is not
disproportionate.

State v. Robert a. Figueroa

4-26-07 (A-38-06)

The trial court’s supplemental jury charge, which did not
include any repetition of the language from the appropriate
initial charge that jurors “not surrender your honest
convictions as to the weight or effect of the evidence solely
because of the opinion of your fellow jurors, or for the mere
purpose of returning a verdict,” and which suggested that
deliberations might continue through the end of the week and
into the weekend, had the effect of coercing the dissenting
juror or jurors into agreeing with the verdict announced shortly
after the supplemental charge and thus Figueroa is entitled to a
new trial.

State v. Abdul Webster

4-25-07 (A-37-06)

Judgment of the Appellate Division is affirmed substantially for
the reasons expressed in Judge Payne’s written opinion in the
Appellate Division. If a sentence is subject to the No Early
Release Act’s mandatory-minimum-sentence provision, making
Webster ineligible for parole during the first eighty-five
percent of his sentence, the commutation and work credits cannot
be used to reduce that eighty-five percent parole disqualifier.

State v. Jeffrey Drury

4-24-07 (A-110-05)

Carjacking is not a predicate offense that serves to elevate a
sexual assault to the first-degree offense of aggravated sexual
assault; and Drury must be resentenced on the kidnapping
convictions.

State v. Calvin Lee

4-19-07 (A-34-06)

A defendant is entitled to discovery to support racial profiling
claims and the attenuation doctrine should be considered only
after it is determined that a defendant is a victim of racial
profiling.

State v. Lawrence A. Brown

4-17-07 (A-7-06)

When there is no governmental compulsion involved, the State may cross-examine a defendant concerning his pre-arrest silence to challenge his self-defense testimony.

State v. Michael Tucker

4-17-07 (A-6-06)

The prosecutor’s comments about inconsistencies in Tucker’s
statements did not constitute an unconstitutional comment on
silence.

State v. Ahmed F. Elkwisni

4-17-07 (A-24-06)

A prosecutor can cross-examine a defendant concerning
inconsistencies between his or her post-Miranda statement to the
police and his testimony at trial.

State v. Jayson S. Williams

4-11-07 (A-12-06)

The post-crime consciousness of guilt evidence is relevant to
the mental state of Williams at the time of the shooting and is
admissible to prove the crime of reckless manslaughter.

State v. Michael Colbert

4-4-07 (A-108-05)

The procedural methodology recognized in State v. W.A. was
intended for purely prospective application. The Court is
satisfied that defendant received his constitutional entitlement
as he was fully present during voir dire and no error occurred.

State v. Steven R. Fortin

3-28-07 (A-112-05)

The State may introduce material details of the sexual assault
committed by Fortin in Maine to present the bite-mark evidence
of this crime in context, subject to specific jury instructions
explaining the limited use of such evidence. The FBI’s Violent
Criminal Apprehension Program database is not admissible to
prove a signature crime.

State v. Randi Fleischman

3-19-07 (A-4-06)

When a defendant provides to officials in connection with a
fraudulent claim a document or oral narrative that contains
material facts relating to the claim, each such document or
narration is a “statement” equating to an “act” of insurance
fraud. The Court rejects the assertion that every discrete fact
within a narrative about a single claim amounts to an “act” of
insurance fraud.

State of New Jersey v. Pascal DuBois

3-8-07 (A-102-05)

The record amply demonstrates that defendant was sufficiently
informed to knowingly and intelligently waive his right to
counsel. Our careful review of the record satisfies us that the
trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that
defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to
counsel.

State of New Jersey v. Brian W. Samuels

1-31-07 (A-88-05)

The State submitted sufficient evidence from which a jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Samuels conspired to and did commit an armed robbery. Nonetheless, the convictions for conspiracy and armed robbery must be reversed and retried in view of the trial court’s failure to charge the lesser-included offense of attempted robbery and the court’s improper charge on the elements of conspiracy and accomplice liability.

State v. John O’Hagen

1-24-07 (A-70-05)

The New Jersey DNA Database and Databank Act of N.J.S.A. 53:1-
20.17-20.28, as amended, does not violate the rights guaranteed
by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution and Article I, Paragraphs 1 and 7 of the New Jersey
Constitution.

A.A., by his parent and guardian B.A., v. Attorney General of the State of New Jersey et als.

1-24-07 (A-105-05)

DNA test results lawfully obtained pursuant to the New Jersey
DNA Database and Databank Act of 1994, N.J.S.A. 53:1-20.17-
20.28, as amended, may be used to solve crimes committed prior
to the taking of the DNA test.

State v. Vincent Dispoto

1-18-07 (A-103-05)

Because there was insufficient evidence to support the issuance
of the underlying domestic violence search warrant, the criminal
search warrant was invalid as fruit of the poisonous tree.
While this holding renders moot the Appellate Division’s finding
that failure to re-administer Miranda warnings at the time of
arrest required suppression of Dispoto’s post-arrest
incriminating statements, the Court adds in respect of the issue
of the Miranda warnings only that no bright line or per se rule
governs whether re-administration is required following a precustodial Miranda warning.

State v. Breane Starr Blakney

12-20-06 (A-117-05)

We agree with Judge Weissbard substantially for the reasons
expressed in his dissenting opinion. We therefore reverse
defendant’s murder conviction and remand for a new trial on that
charge. In addition, we underscore the importance of wellcrafted
limiting instructions when the State introduces othercrime
evidence pursuant to N.J.R.E. 404(b), and remind
prosecutors of their obligation to keep their summation remarks
within acceptable bounds of advocacy.

State v. Porfirio Jimenez

10-24-06 (A-50-05)

The absence of mental retardation is not akin to a capital
trigger, and Jimenez has the burden to prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that he is retarded.

In the Matter of Registrant T.T.: Application for Judicial Review of Notification and Tier

10-3-06 (A-58-05)

T.T.’s lack of sexual motivation does not alter the fact that he
committed the predicate offense of aggravated sexual assault and
Megan’s Law therefore applies. The intra-familial nature of
T.T.’s offense, however, is a circumstance that warrants the
less stringent community notification of a Tier One
classification.

State v. Keith R. Domicz

9-20-06 (A-42-05)

Under the circumstances, the warrantless thermal scan and
seizure of electricity records did not constitute prior unlawful
conduct that could tainted the later search. Grand jury
subpoena procedures adequately protect any privacy interest in
utility records. Law enforcement officers are not required to
have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that criminal
activity is occurring within a home before seeking consent to
search the residence.