State v. Colbert

At issue in this appeal is the retroactivity of our decision in State v. W.A., 184 N.J. 45, 875 A.2d 882 (2005). In particular, defendant, Michael Colbert, who fully participated in voir dire sidebars through the use of the lawyer-shuttle system,1 contends that the rule announced in W.A. requires nothing less than physical presence at sidebar and that his constitutional right to be present at all stages of his trial was violated. The Appellate Division agreed and invalidated defendant’s convictions. For the reasons that follow, and specifically because we part company with the Appellate…