14-1-3422 State v. Montalvo, N.J. Sup. Ct. (Fernandez-Vina, J.) (31 pp.) The right to possess a weapon in one’s own home for self-defense would be of little effect if one were required to keep the weapon out-of-hand, picking it up only “spontaneously.” Defendant had a constitutional right to possess the machete in his home for his own defense and that of his pregnant wife. Because the trial court’s instructions did not convey this principle, the instructions were erroneous. Further, because the erroneous instructions were capable of producing an unjust result in this matter, they constitute plain error.
14-2-3441 State v. McInerney, N.J. Super. App. Div. (Alvarez, P.J.A.D.) (14 pp.) A defendant who elects not to testify at a retrial cannot, by virtue of the exercise of his Fifth Amendment privilege, make himself an unavailable witness. See N.J.R.E. 804(a)(1). Therefore, the testimony from the prior proceeding is not admissible under N.J.R.E. 804(b)(1). He cannot render himself unavailable at a second proceeding while seeking to benefit from the admission of his testimony from the first. (Approved for Publication)
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