LAW OFFICES OF GEOFFREY D. MUELLER, LLC

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"A state Supreme Court committee is recommending adoption of a rule that would make it harder to use evidence of past convictions to impeach a criminal defendant's credibility.

"Revised N.J. Rule of Evidence 609 would bar introduction of evidence of convictions more than 10 years old unless the court determines that its probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect. The 10-year period would run from date of conviction or of release from confinement, whichever is later.

"The rule currently provides that evidence of any witness' conviction of a crime is admissible 'unless excluded by the judge as remote or for other causes.'

"The proposal, by the Committee on the Rules of Evidence, is subject to public comment on or before May 1.

"It stems from the Supreme Court's 4-3 decision, in State v. Harris, 209 N.J. 431 (2012), that a trial judge did not abuse his discretion when he said prosecutors could use 13-year-old drug convictions to impeach the credibility of a defendant charged with robbery and burglary. Derrick Harris chose not to testify and was convicted."

More after the jump...

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"Widener University School of Law graduates unable to find jobs in their profession can go forward with a suit charging they were misled about the school's placement success rate.

"Denying a motion to dismiss on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Walls in Newark found plausible the students' claims that the school — in boasting that more than 90 percent of graduates found jobs within nine months — blurred the line between legal and nonlegal employment.

"That would mean a law firm associate and a coffee bar attendant each count as one tick.

"'Why should a reasonable student looking to go to law school consider that data to include non law-related and part-time employment?' Walls wrote in Harnish v. Widener University School of Law, 12-cv-00608.

"'Should that student think that going to Widener Law School would open employment as a public school teacher, full or part time, or an administrative assistant, or a sales clerk, or a medical assistant?'"

Plaintiffs are seeking damages of $75 million.

More after the jump...

N.J. Bill A765/S1220, which supplements the “New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” is Scheduled for Full Assembly Vote Thursday, March 21, 2013. N.J. Bill A765/S1220 would provide that a registered qualifying patient’s authorized use of medical marijuana would be considered equivalent to using any other prescribed medication, and not the use of an illicit substance that would otherwise disqualify a qualifying patient from medical care.

Per the Statehouse, there will be no opportunity for public comment. However, as of even date, attendance by the public is still permitted. If you plan on attending, directions and parking information can be found here: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/directions.asp. A photo ID is required for admission to the Statehouse.

For those interested, you can monitor the Assembly session live from the Legislature's homepage: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.

To contact your local representatives regarding N.J. Bill A765/S1220, please visit:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp.

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"Defense lawyers have lodged another challenge to statewide use of the Alcotest in drunken driving cases, claiming the database of readings established in compliance with a Supreme Court directive is incomplete and corrupt.

"In motion papers filed Tuesday, Evan Levow of Cherry Hill and Matthew Reisig of Freehold want the Attorney General's Office to show cause why it should not be compelled to redesign the database, established last November.

"Discrepancies found in a review of data downloaded from a state website ranged from 'confusion of data to sanitization of demonstrable error,' the lawyers allege.

"A defense expert, East Windsor solo Samuel Sachs, discovered corrupted data for 15 of 45 Alcotest machines by comparing individual reports, obtained from CD-ROMs created by state technicians, to the same reports on the state website.

"Data from the East Brunswick Police Department, for example, allegedly shows several errors when viewed on CD-ROMs downloaded from the machines, but those errors do not appear in the database."

More after the jump...

Per The National Law Journal:

"That the Washington Redskins football team name is controversial is undisputed, but the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board is weighing whether there was evidence that enough Native Americans considered it disparaging to cancel the team's trademark registrations.

"A March 7 hearing marked the latest development in more than two decades of litigation over the name, which has long been criticized as offensive to Native Americans. A previous challenge to the team's trademark registrations succeeded before the trademark appeal board in 1999, but ultimately failed when the team appealed to the federal courts.

"The petitioners in this latest round are five Native Americans from different tribes. Although the trademark appeal board couldn't stop the team from using the name, cancelling the trademark registrations would leave the team unable to stop others from using the name commercially."

More after the jump...

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"Property owners trying to rebuild after damage caused by Hurricane Sandy or other disasters got what could be a bad-news ruling from a New Jersey appeals court on Monday.

"In a precedential decision, Motley v. Borough of Seaside Park, No. A-3214-11, the Appellate Division found a house that had been gutted to a shell to accomplish repairs was totally destroyed and so lost its status as a grandfathered nonconforming use under local zoning laws.

"The panel strictly construed a statute, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-68, which says a nonconforming use or structure may be restored or repaired if partially destroyed but total destruction terminates it.

"Whether the destruction is partial or total is not so much a matter of percentage but "whether [it] is so substantial in nature — qualitatively if not quantitatively — to surpass the 'partial' threshold that the statute expresses," Judges Jack Sabatino, Douglas Fasciale and Susan Maven held.

"The house at issue was one of two at 213 "O" Street in Seaside Park. The area is now zoned for single-family homes, but the houses were built in 1931, decades before the adoption of the zoning laws in 1972, and thus were prior conforming uses. They violated restrictions on lot width, depth and area, as well as front-, rear- and side-yard setbacks and building coverage."

***

"Grasso held that Motley did not act unreasonably once he learned of the building's poor condition and that the sounder policy was to allow debilitated nonconforming structures to be renovated as long as there was no increase in nonconformity.

"He relied on Krul v. Bd. of Adjustment, 126 N.J. Super. 150 (App. Div. 1973), which held that a commercial building that was completely destroyed by fire could be replaced even though it was nonconforming.

"The appeals court on Monday distinguished Krul on the ground that it involved destruction of a building that was a part of a complex used as "an integrated whole." In contrast, Motley's house was a stand-alone residence whose use was independent of the other house on the property.

"The appeals court also referred to the "well settled law of our state that disfavors the continuation of nonconforming uses and structures" because they undermine land use planning.

"The judges agreed with the board that removing the walls down to the foundation and footings "exceeds any reasonable notion of a mere partial demolition."

"They said they appreciated Grasso's concern that the limits on reconstruction could have harsh results for innocent homeowners but added that was for the Legislature to address."

Full article after the jump...

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"The state Senate on Tuesday confirmed six Superior Court appointees, bringing to 21 the number of new judges seated this year and reducing vacancies statewide to 34 from 55 a month ago."

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner signed orders the same day, assigning the judges to the Camden, Hudson, Monmouth, Middlesex and Essex vicinages.

"All but one of the six were assigned to their home counties.

"Stephen Taylor, an Independent from Montgomery Township and since January 2010 the director of the state Division of Criminal Justice, was intended for Morris County but instead was assigned to the Civil Part in Essex — the vicinage most in need of manpower."

...

"All six were from a package of 23 nominees that Christie pre-negotiated with Senate leaders. Each was recommended for confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 21, except for Rafano, who was approved on Feb. 7 but had his final vote delayed while he divested himself from his firm.

"The Senate confirmed 15 judges on Feb. 7: Peter Bogaard, Bradford Bury, Martiza Byrne, J. Randall Corman, Angela White Dalton, Mitzy Galis-Menendez, Katie Gummer, Daniel Lindemann, Arnold Natali Jr., Michael O'Neill, Joseph Oxley, Nesle Rodriguez, Donald Stein, James Wilson and Mara Zazzali-Hogan. Three each were assigned to Union and Monmouth counties; two each to Essex, Hudson and Middlesex; and one each to Camden, Morris and Somerset.

"Seven of those – Bogaard, Corman, Dalton, Gummer, Lindemann, Natali and Oxley – had been nominated months earlier but weren't confirmed before the end of the year."

Full article and assigment listing after the jump...