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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
Bullet Lodged In NJ Police Shootout Suspect Could Soon Be Key Piece Of Evidence, Court Rules Bullet Lodged In NJ Police Shootout Suspect Could Soon Be Key Piece Of Evidence, Court Rules
Bullet Lodged In NJ Police Shootout Suspect Could Soon 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
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 Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY Feds: Imprisoned Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY
Feds: Imprisoned Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY 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
News
NJ’s 1st Social-Distanced Verdict: Philly Man Convicted Of Stealing $17G In Unemployment Checks NJ’s 1st Social-Distanced Verdict: Philly Man Convicted Of Stealing $17G In Unemployment Checks
NJ’s 1st Social-Distanced Verdict: Philly Man Convicted Of Stealing $17G In Unemployment Checks A socially-distanced jury in Trenton convicted a Philadelphia man of conspiring with a state worker to steal $17,206 worth of unemployment checks. The conviction of Phillip Stewart III, 39, was the first verdict obtained by the state Division of Criminal Justice in a socially distanced jury trial during the COVID-19 pandemic, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. Participants in the trial wore face masks “to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and maximize safety,” Grewal said. “There were plexiglass barriers between each juror in the jury box …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Suspends Jury Trials, Grand Juries Amid Second COVID-19 Wave NJ Suspends Jury Trials, Grand Juries Amid Second COVID-19 Wave
NJ Suspends Jury Trials, Grand Juries Amid Second Covid-19 Wave New Jersey's highest court suspended all criminal and civil jury trials and in-person grand jury sessions Monday amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the Garden State. “The increasing rates of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths make it impracticable and unsafe for certain in-person court events to continue at the level reached during the past few months,” State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote. In-person grand jury panels can continue to convene virtually in all 21 counties, under the order signed by Rabner. Socially distanced jury trials and in-person grand jury session…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HISTORIC: Murphy Nominates First Black Woman To Serve On NJ's Supreme Court HISTORIC: Murphy Nominates First Black Woman To Serve On NJ's Supreme Court
Historic: Murphy Nominates First Black Woman To Serve On NJ's Supreme Court Gov. Phil Murphy’s nomination for the state Supreme Court is going down in history. Murphy has selected Fabiana Pierre-Louis, a partner at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, to serve as the next associate justice of the state’s Supreme Court -- the state's highest. If confirmed by the Senate, Pierre-Louis, 39, will be the first black woman to sit on the court. Pierre-Louis, who has experience with both public and private practice, is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, Essence reports. She graduated with high honors from Rutgers Law School in Camden and worked as clerk for Justice J…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Verdict: NJ Judge Who Suggested Rape Victim Close Her Legs Removed By State Supreme Court Verdict: NJ Judge Who Suggested Rape Victim Close Her Legs Removed By State Supreme Court
Verdict: NJ Judge Who Suggested Rape Victim Close Her Legs Removed By State Supreme Court A Jersey Shore judge who asked a rape victim whether she tried closing her legs to fend off the assault was permanently removed from the bench by the state Supreme Court. The justices unanimously agreed that “insensitive, threatening and discourteous, comments he made in his Ocean County courtroom – particularly toward the sex assault victim -- warranted the removal of Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr. He’s also prohibited from ever becoming a judge in New Jersey again. The former Toms River mayor had been suspended pending the final decision of the state’s highest court for asking the r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Sheriff: Only One Bergen County Jail Inmate, 2 ICE Detainees Test Positive Since Pandemic Began Sheriff: Only One Bergen County Jail Inmate, 2 ICE Detainees Test Positive Since Pandemic Began
Sheriff: Only One Bergen County Jail Inmate, 2 ICE Detainees Test Positive Since Pandemic Began The Bergen County Jail has had only one county inmate and two ICE detainees test positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, Sheriff Anthony Cureton reported Tuesday. Other county jails in North Jersey have reported much higher numbers of inmates and staff infected with the virus, along with several deaths. At the Bergen County Jail, Cureton reported: A 54-year-old BCJ inmate tested positive on March 28; A 40-year-old Salvadorian national in ICE custody tested positive on March 26; A 31-year-old Mexican national was released by ICE on March 26, three days after the detaine…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
COVID-19: Morris Catholic Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Students Reportedly Positive COVID-19: Morris Catholic Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Students Reportedly Positive
Covid-19: Morris Catholic Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Students Reportedly Positive A former Morris Catholic High School teacher accused of sexually assaulting two students tested positive for coronavirus while detained in the Morris County Jail, published reports say. Carlos Franco-Leon, 42, of Rockaway Township, was alone in an isolation room at the jail wearing surgical gloves and a mask during a brief video hearing before a Superior Court judge on Monday. The former teacher and volleyball coach has been jailed since his arrest in early March on aggravated sexual assault and child endangerment charges. The Morris County Jail last month released 28 non-violent offe…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
ICE Detainee In Bergen County Jail Tests Positive For Coronavirus ICE Detainee In Bergen County Jail Tests Positive For Coronavirus
ICE Detainee In Bergen County Jail Tests Positive For Coronavirus A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee being held in the Bergen County Jail tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said. The 31-year-old Mexican national was quarantined and receiving care, ICE officials said in a release Tuesday. "Consistent with CDC guidelines, those who have come in contact with the individual have been cohorted and are being monitored for symptoms," the release said.  "ICE is suspending intake at the facility until further information is available." The New Jersey Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the release of low-risk inmates serving sen…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
COVID-19: County Jails Must Begin Releasing Inmates Before Dawn Tuesday, NJ Supreme Court Rules COVID-19: County Jails Must Begin Releasing Inmates Before Dawn Tuesday, NJ Supreme Court Rules
Covid-19: County Jails Must Begin Releasing Inmates Before Dawn Tuesday, NJ Supreme Court Rules Low-risk inmates serving sentences of less than a year will be released from New Jersey’s county jails before 6 a.m. Tuesday in response to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. Their sentences will be suspended or converted to some type of restitution, under an order from the New Jersey Supreme Court. The state’s highest court issued the order, announced Monday by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, following a Sunday night mediation among representatives from state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal’s Office, the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey and the state public defender’s …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Do-Over: Jury Again Convicts Newark Man Of Murdering Aspiring Police Officer In Lyndhurst Do-Over: Jury Again Convicts Newark Man Of Murdering Aspiring Police Officer In Lyndhurst
Do-Over: Jury Again Convicts Newark Man Of Murdering Aspiring Police Officer In Lyndhurst A Newark man who got a retrial after he was found guilty of killing an aspiring police officer in Lyndhurst was convicted again on Friday. The state Supreme Court had given Fernando Carrero a reprieve when it dismissed his original 2013 conviction. A new jury in state Superior Court in Hackensack found him guilty Friday of first-degree murder, hindering and weapons counts -- same as the first time -- following a three-week trial. All that’s left now is a scheduled March 30 sentencing, unless there is another appeal. Carrero was 17 when he gunned down 21-year-old Jose Hall in cold blood i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen, Hudson Bail Reform Car Burglar Arrested Yet Again -- 500 Feet From Edgewater Police HQ Bergen, Hudson Bail Reform Car Burglar Arrested Yet Again -- 500 Feet From Edgewater Police HQ
Bergen, Hudson Bail Reform Car Burglar Arrested Yet Again -- 500 Feet From Edgewater Police HQ Police have nearly lost count of the number of times serial car burglar Isaiah Jones has been released only to strike again in community after community in Bergen and Hudson counties. It happened again Friday night when Edgewater police said they caught Jones entering unlocked vehicles in the parking lot of a River Road shopping center barely 500 feet from their headquarters. The 29-year-old Bayonne resident has become a local bail reform poster boy of sorts. Two weeks ago, Edgewater police arrested Jones for breaking into vehicles at the Viva Margarita Restaurant on Old River Road, across…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Murder, Rape Charges Dropped In Rutherford Woman's Beating Death After Judge Rejects DNA Proof Murder, Rape Charges Dropped In Rutherford Woman's Beating Death After Judge Rejects DNA Proof
Murder, Rape Charges Dropped In Rutherford Woman's Beating Death After Judge Rejects DNA Proof Murder and rape charges were dropped against a Guatemalan national accused of killing a 50-year-old Rutherford woman more than six years ago after a judge refused to allow prosecutors to use DNA evidence against him. Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said she had no choice, leaving the family of Karen Splettstoesser without justice. Rafael Camey is now in the hands of federal immigration officials who are expected to deport him. The issue bounced around the court system before coming to a halt last month. Superior Court Judge Marilyn C. Clark initially granted a defense request …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Charges Dropped Against Wayne Woman Charged With Killing Newborn Charges Dropped Against Wayne Woman Charged With Killing Newborn
Charges Dropped Against Wayne Woman Charged With Killing Newborn Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes announced Monday that a Wayne woman accused of killing her newborn son a decade ago won't stand trial. The decision to drop the charges against Keri Barry follows the state Supreme Court’s refusal to consider a lower court’s ruling that prosecutors couldn’t admit a trash bag containing the baby’s remains into evidence because it was retrieved from her parents’ Wayne home without a search warrant. Authorities charged Barry with murder and child endangerment, saying that she gave birth in their basement in December 2009, stuffed the baby into the bag a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Judge In Essex Who Said 'Men Are In Control' Calls Remark 'Misguided' Judge In Essex Who Said 'Men Are In Control' Calls Remark 'Misguided'
Judge In Essex Who Said 'Men Are In Control' Calls Remark 'Misguided' A municipal court judge who sits in East Orange part-time and is an acting judge in Newark admitted Monday that comments he made to a defendant facing domestic violence charges were inappropriate, the Associated Press reported.  In October, the  state Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct posted the complaint against Judge Steven Brister alleging a breach of conduct. In February, Brister told the defendant that he can't go at women "like Mike Tyson" and "at best"the defendant should treat women  "as if you're holding a feather, just to let them know you're the…

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by Paul Milo