The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two more cases. One arises out of a finding of child abuse and neglect. The other involves a request for expungement of criminal convictions following a gubernatorial pardon.
The former case is New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency v. J.R.-R. and G.R.-R. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Among other issues, did the family court apply conditional res ipsa loquit[u]r and improperly shift the burden to the parents to rebut the presumption that they abused or neglected their son?” The Family Part found both defendants guilty of abuse and neglect. The Appellate Division affirmed in an unpublished opinion by a three-judge panel.
The expungement case is In re Petition for Expungement of the Criminal Record Belonging to T.O. That appeal presents this question: “Does a gubernatorial pardon remove the statutory bar to the expungement of multiple convictions under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(a)?” Both the Law Division and a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, denied the petition for expungement.