On Aug. 9, 2018, our Supreme Court handed down a decision in State v. Fuqua that we believe was in error as set forth in the dissents of Chief Justice Rabner and Justice Albin (joined in by Justice LaVecchia).

In this 4-3 decision, the court held that to convict a defendant of the second-degree crime of endangering the welfare of a child under N.J.S.A. §2C:24-4(a), the state did not have to prove that a child suffered actual harm. Rather, it was sufficient for the state to prove that a child was exposed to a “substantial risk of harm.” Accordingly, the court affirmed denial of the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.