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New Jersey Supreme Court

Politics
End Of 'The Line'?: NJ Leg Leaders Looking Into Ballot Design End Of 'The Line'?: NJ Leg Leaders Looking Into Ballot Design
End Of 'The Line'?: NJ Leg Leaders Looking Into Ballot Design New Jersey's county line ballot system continues to face scrutiny. On Tuesday, March 19, New Jersey's legislative leaders, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Senate Minority Issue Anthony Bucco, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, and Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio issued a statement on the controversial practice, vowing to begin a public process on ballot design.  The move comes after Rep. Andy Kim, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate filed a federal lawsuit looking to dismantle the "line," and testified in court on Monday, March 18. The layout is controv…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Appeals Court Orders New Murder Trial In Burlington County For Juror's Comment Appeals Court Orders New Murder Trial In Burlington County For Juror's Comment
Appeals Court Orders New Murder Trial In Burlington County For Juror's Comment "Regrettably agree." Those were the words that completely changed the direction of a Burlington County murder case dating back to 2017, giving the defendant an entirely new third trial. The comment made to the judge led a New Jersey Appeals Court to overturn the murder conviction for 28-year-old Douglas Lewis in the shooting death of 24-year-old Shaquille Williams. The jurors were being polled on the outcome of the conviction when Juror No. 7 made the remark, paperwork details. The trial court judge, however, never asked why the juror added the comment and should have, the Appeals Co…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Bullet Lodged In Camden Police Shootout Suspect Could Be Key Piece Of Evidence, Court Rules Bullet Lodged In Camden Police Shootout Suspect Could Be Key Piece Of Evidence, Court Rules
Bullet Lodged In Camden Police Shootout Suspect Could Be Key Piece Of Evidence, Court Rules New Jersey’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Camden County prosecutors on whether a bullet lodged in a suspect's abdomen can be used as evidence in an attempted murder trial, according to court records. Camden police and Shlawrence Ross have different accounts of what happened on Dec. 3, 2017. While police say Ross shot at them after being kicked out of an illegal speakeasy, Ross says he had left the party to go to the store and was denied re-entry. Before he knew it, he was shot at "but he did not know who shot him or why," court documents show. A grand jury indicted Ross for&nb…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn BREAKING NEWS: The son of a former judge who was removed from the bench for misconduct was busted on child porn charges following a raid on the family home in Waldwick, authorities confirmed on Friday. George M. Silebi, 27, “used the Internet to view, download, and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Jan. 18. Detectives from Musella’s Cyber Crimes Unit raided the Sheridan Avenue home of former Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi exactly a week earlier. From there they traveled to N…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Pregnant Out Of Wedlock: NJ Supreme Court Rules Teacher Can Be Fired Pregnant Out Of Wedlock: NJ Supreme Court Rules Teacher Can Be Fired
Pregnant Out Of Wedlock: NJ Supreme Court Rules Teacher Can Be Fired Nearly a decade after a New Jersey Catholic school fired one of its teachers for getting pregnant out of wedlock, a New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the school was within its rights. The Supreme Court ruled on Monday, Aug. 14 in favor of the Church of St. Theresa in Kenilworth, which fired Victoria Crisitello — a second grade art teacher — in 2014, after she told them she was pregnant out of wedlock. The school said that Crisitello had violated her employment agreement and fired her. The agreement requires teachers to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the discipline, no…

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by Sam Barron
News
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Michael Noriega, a Union County resident, has been nominated to be the newest justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced Noriega's nomination on Monday, May 15. Noriega, who was born in Weehawken, will be replacing Justice Barry Albin, who reached the mandatory retirement age. Noriega, who was raised in Union City and lives in Fanwood, is Murphy's fourth appointment to the bench. Noriega, 45, is a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold, and Mangan, based in Clifton, working as a defense and immigration attorney. Noriega also spent five years as…

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by Sam Barron
News
Camden Judge Reprimanded For Saying He Doesn't Know Family Law, Failing To Wear Judicial Robe Camden Judge Reprimanded For Saying He Doesn't Know Family Law, Failing To Wear Judicial Robe
Camden Judge Reprimanded For Saying He Doesn't Know Family Law, Failing To Wear Judicial Robe A Camden County judge was publicly reprimanded by the New Jersey Supreme Court for misconduct while temporarily working in family court. On Tuesday, April 11, a Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct said State Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel's behavior constituted a complete departure from ethical standards. Kassel, who usually works in Camden County’s civil division, was temporarily assigned to the family division in April 2021. The advisory committee's report included numerous comments from the judge professing his ignorance of family law, such as: "I’m not an idi…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Mom Convicted Of Killing, Dismembering Toddler In South Jersey Mom Convicted Of Killing, Dismembering Toddler In South Jersey
Mom Convicted Of Killing, Dismembering Toddler In South Jersey A Cumberland County jury found a mother guilty in the 2019 death and dismemberment of her 23-month-old child, according to the county Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae. Nakira M. Griner, 28, of Bridgeton, was charged with murder and several other offenses after she initially reported that Daniel Griner Jr. was abducted while she was walking to the store. The jury found her guilty of all counts on Wednesday, Jan. 4: first-degree murder, second-degree desecration of human remains, second-degree child endangerment, fourth-degree tampering with evidence and second-degree false public alarm. …

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by Jon Craig
News
GUILTY: Pair Convicted Of Murder In Passaic Drive-By Shooting After COVID-Delayed Case Resumes GUILTY: Pair Convicted Of Murder In Passaic Drive-By Shooting After COVID-Delayed Case Resumes
Guilty: Pair Convicted Of Murder In Passaic Drive-By Shooting After Covid-delayed Case Resumes Two Passaic men were convicted of murder, among other charges, for the drive-by shooting death of a 23-year-old city resident after a previous attempt at prosecuting them was derailed by COVID. Jurors in Paterson found Nelson Vargas, 29, and Christopher Reynoso, 22, guilty of attempted murder, as well, for the wounding of another man in the shooting. Both Vargas and Reynoso were also convicted of conspiracy and weapons offenses. Hansel Castillo was gunned down outside a home on Federal Street on May 15, 2017. Both he and Bryan Cabrera, 20, of Woodland Park, who was wounded in the shooting…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Accused Home Invader Was Center Of Major NJ Supreme Court Case On Racial Profiling: Report Accused Home Invader Was Center Of Major NJ Supreme Court Case On Racial Profiling: Report
Accused Home Invader Was Center Of Major NJ Supreme Court Case On Racial Profiling: Report A recently-accused New Jersey home invader just months ago had his convictions overturned in a major Supreme Court case that ultimately maintained that authorities can't stop cars during pursuits based on a suspect's race and gender, NJ Advance Media reports. Peter Nyema, 31, was charged with two counts each of attempted murder, burglary, robbery, and weapons offenses after apparently shooting two people at their home on Lalor Street in Hamilton on April 28, local police said. In May 2011, he was accused of carrying out a robbery at a 7-Eleven store in Hamilton, alongside then 25-…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Convicted NJ State Trooper Killer Sundiata Acoli Can Live Final Years Free Man Convicted NJ State Trooper Killer Sundiata Acoli Can Live Final Years Free Man
Convicted NJ State Trooper Killer Sundiata Acoli Can Live Final Years Free Man The 85-year-old man convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1973 has been granted prison release by the New Jersey Supreme Court after serving a 49-year sentence, overturning a 2019 Appellate Court ruling. The court's majority opinion found Parole Board did not meet its obligation to prove that Clark Edward Squire, who changed his name to Sundiata Acoli, would commit another crime if released. The Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member was convicted along with fugitive Joanne Chesimard for gunning down NJSP Trooper Werner Foerster during a New Jersey Turnpike st…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
NJ Court Tosses Michelle Lodzinski's Murder Conviction In 5-Year-Old Son's Cold Case Killing NJ Court Tosses Michelle Lodzinski's Murder Conviction In 5-Year-Old Son's Cold Case Killing
NJ Court Tosses Michelle Lodzinski's Murder Conviction In 5-Year-Old Son's Cold Case Killing New Jersey's Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the 2016 murder conviction of single Florida mom Michelle Lodzinski in the 1991 death of her 5-year-old son, Timothy "Timmy" Wiltsley. Last October, judges decided to reconsider the case. Appellate Judge Jose Fuentes on Tuesday cast the tie-breaking 4-3 vote in favor of Lodzinski's acquittal. "After reviewing the entirety of the evidence and after giving the state the benefit of all its favorable testimony and all the favorable inferences drawn from that testimony, no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski p…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
NJ Judge Who Called Men 'In Control' And Women Created 'On A Curve' Begins Unpaid Suspension NJ Judge Who Called Men 'In Control' And Women Created 'On A Curve' Begins Unpaid Suspension
NJ Judge Who Called Men 'In Control' And Women Created 'On A Curve' Begins Unpaid Suspension A New Jersey judge will be benched for a month beginning Wednesday for telling a domestic violence defendant that men are "in control" and that God created women "on a curve." The state Supreme Court suspended Municipal Court Judge Steven Brister for the month without pay for the way he told the man to consider women. “We get frustrated with the women human beings. Because we try to straighten out a creation ‘cause they was created with a curve," said Brister, a defense attorney who works as a part-time judge in East Orange and Newark, during a 2019 case. The judge later explained he was r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Imprisoned NJ Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed NY User Feds: Imprisoned NJ Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed NY User
Feds: Imprisoned NJ Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed NY User A twice-imprisoned drug dealer from Paterson admitted he sold the heroin that killed a user from Orange County, NY. Shameik "Homeboy" Byrd, 31, who’s currently serving a state prison sentence, told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark that the death of 25-year-old Kean Cabral of Warwick was caused by heroin from the batch of “Trap Queen” that he’d been selling. State authorities tried to prosecute Byrd and a couple who they said bought the drugs from him and sold some to Cabral in April 2016. They were over-ruled, however, by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which said they didn’t ha…

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by Jerry DeMarco