State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. John Short, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the Appellate Division, holding that a trial court must instruct the jury on all lesser‑included offenses supported by the evidence without warning that a conviction on those offenses would be barred by the statute of limitations; the defendant’s rights to a full jury instruction and to the statute‑of‑limitations defense are separate and cannot be conditioned on one another. The Court remanded for a new trial consistent with this rule, and Justice O’Hern concurred in part and dissented in part, arguing the majority erred in deeming the trial‑court instruction permissible.