Oettinger v. Township of Bedminster, A-1838-11T3; Appellate Division; opinion by Espinosa, J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication October 31, 2013. Before Judges Ashrafi, Espinosa and Guadagno. On appeal from the Chancery Division, General Equity Part, Bergen County, C-35-10. DDS No. 57-2-xxxx [32 pp.]
Although it was enacted in 1979, there are no published opinions that interpret or apply the Subpoena First Act, which has been described as “narrowly circumscrib[ing] the situations in which the State can properly search and seize materials acquired in the course of newsgathering.” In this case, the Appellate Division considers the application of the act to a suspect in a criminal investigation who asserted a claim to its protection based on his status as an “internet publisher” after a search warrant was executed and his suppression motion was denied.
