STATE COURT CASES
CRIMINAL LAW JURIES
14-2-8664 State v. Blann, App. Div. (Accurso, J.S.C., temporarily assigned) (47 pp., including dissent by Lisa, J.A.D., retired and temporarily assigned on recall) We reverse defendants conviction because the absence of a signed jury waiver required by Rule 1:8-1(a), coupled with the judges failure to question defendant on the record regarding his request to waive a jury and the judges failure to state his reasons for granting defendants request, make it impossible for a reviewing court to assess whether defendants waiver was knowing and voluntary. Judge Lisa dissents and would affirm the conviction without prejudice to defendants right to seek review by way of a petition for postconviction relief. [Decided Jan. 9, 2013.]
CRIMINAL LAW PLEAS
14-1-xxxx State v. Campfield, Sup. Ct. (Patterson, J.) (36 pp., including dissent by Albin, J.) Defendants admissions in his plea colloquy satisfied the standard set by Rule 3:9-2 and established an adequate factual foundation for his guilty plea to the crime of reckless manslaughter in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(b). [Decided Jan. 10, 2013.]
TAXATION
35-5-8636 Residuary Trust A v. Dir., Div. of Taxation, Tax Ct. (Bianco, J.T.C.) (11 pp.) On cross-motions for summary judgment the Tax Court granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and denied defendants motion for summary judgment, finding that the plaintiff was not required to pay taxes on the undistributed out-of-state income of a testamentary trust earned through the trusts passive ownership of stock in S Corporations conducting business in New Jersey. Since the trust was administered out of state by a nonresident trustee and the court determined that the trust owned no assets in New Jersey, the court followed the precedent set forth in Pennoyer v. Taxation Div. Dir., 5 N.J. Tax 386 (Tax 1983), and Potter v. Taxation Div. Dir., 5 N.J. Tax 399 (Tax 1983), finding that the director failed to overcome the due process threshold needed to constitutionally subject the trust to taxation on out-of-state income. [Decided Jan. 3, 2013.]
TAXATION
35-5-8637 Schaefer v. Borough of Chatham, etc., Tax Ct. (Bianco, J.T.C.) (6 pp.) The Tax Court denied defendants motions to dismiss plaintiffs complaints for lack of jurisdiction despite the dismissals of plaintiffs appeals for lack of prosecution by the Morris County Board Taxation. The court found that the boards dismissals were wholly improper given that plaintiffs attorney and appraisal experts appeared at the scheduled board hearings and were prepared to proceed. The court determined that the boards barring of the appraisal reports and testimony of plaintiffs experts due to boilerplate language contained in the reports that indicated they were prepared for a purpose other than tax appeals, effectively precluded plaintiffs from satisfying the evidentiary standard needed to avoid a dismissal for lack of prosecution under N.J.S.A. 54:51A-1c (2). [Decided Dec. 7, 2012, amplified opinion released Jan. 3, 2013.]
FEDERAL COURT CASE
PRODUCTS LIABILITY
32-7-8643 Solomon v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., U.S. Dist. Ct. (Wolfson, U.S.D.J.) (35 pp.) Plaintiff brings this suit against defendants Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Sanofi-Aventis U.S., L.L.C., Sanofi-Aventis U.S. Inc., and Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc. alleging that he suffered injuries as a result of defendants design, development, manufacture, testing, packaging, promoting, marketing, distributing, labeling and sale of their prescription drug Plavix, an anti-clotting medication. Plaintiffs amended complaint asserts various Texas state and common-law claims against defendants, including failure to warn, defective design, manufacturing defect and negligence. The court grants defendants motion for summary judgment, finding the learned-intermediary doctrine under Texas law applies because the duty to warn the patient rests solely with the prescribing physician and these manufacturers properly and adequately warned the prescribing physicians regarding Plavixs risks. [Filed Jan. 3, 2013.]
