The Supreme Court announced this afternoon that it has granted certification in three more cases. Two are criminal appeals, and the third involves a mortgage dispute.
The mortgage case is Rosemont Properties, LLC v. IP Realty, LLC. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Did the credit doctrine apply and require reduction of the amount due to plaintiff under the circumstances presented, including that plaintiff released its mortgage to defendants on a different property?” A two-judge panel of the Appellate Division, in an unpublished per curiam opinion, affirmed the decision of the Law Division that no reduction of the amount due was required.
State v. Horton offers this question: “Was it error to substitute an alternate juror for an excused juror after the jury stated that it had reached a partial verdict?” The Appellate Division’s unpublished, three-judge per curiam opinion, a lengthy ruling that addressed a number of other issues as well, found no error.
Finally, in State v. Dumbrack, which involves two consolidated cases, the question presented is “Were defendants entitled to have the jury instructed on theft as a lesser included offense of robbery?” The Law Division did not instruct the jury about the lesser included offense. In an unpublished, per curiam decision by a two-judge panel, the Appellate Division reversed, finding that the Law Division had erred in that regard.