New Jersey: TIME LIMIT FOR APPEAL WILL BECOME SHORTER
The court said the decision is not retroactive. In the instant cases, the court allowed the four defendants to proceed with their late appeals. One had missed the deadline by five years.
In the second case, the high court said defense attorneys in future must raise all possible arguments as early as possible in murder trials.
Because the lawyer for convicted murderer Clayton Webster had not listed nine issues he wanted to argue, the justices gave Webster a new hearing and set new rules for the future.
The New Jersey Supreme Court reduced the time limits for criminals to appeal their convictions and sentences and restricted frivolous claims.
“A defendant who has been advised of his right to appeal as provided under [state law] and fails to prosecute his appeal in a timely manner is not entitled to relief,” said the court in jointly deciding the cases of five criminal appellants in two separate rulings.
In a consolidation of four appeals cases, the justices ordered rigorous enforcement of a rule requiring criminal appeals to be filed within 45 days, with a possible extension of 30 days for good cause.