State v. Wallace

In State v. Wallace, 158 N.J. 552, 730 A.2d 839 (1999), the Court held that the trial court's failure to define the term "injury" in a second degree eluding case was harmless error because the defendant had been convicted by the jury of certain motor vehicle law violations, thereby satisfying a rebuttable inference that there was a risk of death or injury. The "problem" with the opinion, brought to the attention of the Criminal Practice Committee by the Conference of Criminal Presiding Judges, was the recitation of the procedural history including defendant's conviction by jury of motor vehicle violations. It seems to many of the presiding judges that presentation of the motor vehicle violations to the jury simultaneously with the criminal charges was inconsistent with the Supreme Court's earlier opinion in State v. Muniz, and the rule changes based thereon embodied in R. 3:15-3.