75 results for 'court:"New Jersey Appellate Division"'.
J. Smith finds that the trial court properly barred expert testimony as net opinion in claims in which an electric utility contends a fire started under a boardwalk after sustaining damage during Hurricane Sandy. The utility did not owe a duty to inspect customer-owned equipment before re-energizing, as such would require redundant inspections after a locations have been deemed safe. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Smith , Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: A-1797-21, Categories: Energy, Negligence
J. Perez Friscia finds that the trial court properly ruled for the township in claims contending the police department failed to release body camera footage of an officer related to sexual misconduct allegations. The recording is exempt from open record law because the individual involved in the altercation with the officer had not been arrested. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Perez Friscia , Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: A-1673-22, Categories: Public Record
J. Susswein finds that the trial court properly denied petitioner an ID card and permit to purchase a handgun on grounds that he falsified information on the application and due to a past physical altercation with a neighbor. Disqualifying for falsification does not require a criminal charge of perjury, and while the applicant's past psychiatric treatment would not automatically waive his right for the permit, such would likely warrant follow-up inquiries. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Susswein , Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: A-3899-21, Categories: Constitution, Firearms
[Consolidated, redacted.] J. Sabatino finds that the trial court properly convicted defendants of armed robbery of Poppie's Deli based on surveillance video that captured defendants taking the victim out of the building. Defendant was not prejudiced by the decision allowing the jury to view the video several times in slow motion because the court exercised proper discretion, and video playback occurred in open court within the presence of counsel. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sabatino , Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: A-0377-20, Categories: Evidence, Robbery, Jury Instructions
J. Vinci finds that the trial court properly dismissed claims contending a nursing home failed to prevent a resident from developing fatal pressure wounds because the estate failed to provide an appropriate affidavit of merit and referred generally to nursing staff while indiscriminately combining staffs from two separate facilities. Meanwhile, administrative negligence claims had been abandoned on appeal. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Vinci , Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: A-2036-22, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence
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J. Gilson finds that the trial court properly dismissed claims brought against the Archdiocese based on allegations that a Catholic priest sexually abused a parishioner in the early 1970s, when he was 14 years old, because evidence neither indicated that the Archdiocese's ownership of properties in the state related to the alleged abuse nor that the Archdiocese had been notified about the abuse or the priest's attraction to young boys prior to 1986. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gilson , Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: A-0372-22, Categories: Negligence
J. Marczyk finds that the trial court properly dismissed pro se claims seeking to disqualify city council candidates since one of them did not live in Trenton for a year prior to the election and since the other had a criminal history because petitioners failed to establish they acquired an attorney to represent them, and the latter candidate had not been convicted of a crime while holding office. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Marczyk , Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: A-26190-22, Categories: Elections
J. Perez Friscia finds the lower court properly vacated the final judgment entered against a corporation in tax sale foreclosure claims because evidence does not indicate the court abused its discretion, and the New Jersey constitution explicitly prohibits private corporations from taking private property in such cases. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Perez Friscia , Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: A-3315-21, Categories: Property, Tax
[Consolidated.] J. Gummer finds that the trial court properly denied fee applications in a guardianship action because courts are prohibited from ordering payment from the office of adult protective services unless conduct by the agency or its employees constitutes a crime, willful misconduct, or other aspects outside the normal scope of employment. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gummer , Filed On: November 25, 2023, Case #: A-2563-21, Categories: Guardianship, Attorney Fees
[Redacted.] J. Sabatino finds that the trial court properly declined to remove two police officers from the jury in defendant's trial on assault charges alleging he choked his then-girlfriend and threw her off a boat into the Hudson River. The jurors do not serve as officers in the municipality in which the charges arose, and the simple possibility that officers interacted with the county prosecutor's office would constitute an overbroad reason for removal. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sabatino , Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: A-2353-21, Categories: Jury, Assault
J. Firko finds that the trial court properly ruled against a church accused of allowing the sexual abuse of plaintiff, a then-minor, by her paternal grandfather, a church elder. A 1994 action sought damages for harm directly caused by the grandfather, and while the current action alleges the church allowed a known child abuser to serve as an elder, the Child Victims Act was intended to resurrect older claims. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Firko , Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: A-1779-22, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence
J. Gooden Brown finds that the trial court improperly held that bonds should have been credited toward the estate's divorce settlement obligation in probate proceedings because state law should not have been applied to the disposition of bonds, and, under federal law, treasury bonds are not transferable unless they are modified by the original owner. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gooden Brown , Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: A-2944-21, Categories: Settlements, Wills / Probate
J. Whipple finds that the education agency improperly granted the board of education's motion to disqualify a member after she sought reimbursement for special education services for her child because her letter merely notified the board about her concerns with the child's education plan, and while she intends to seek reimbursement for private school costs, she has done little else to pursue that goal. Until she submits a request for tuition reimbursement, she has not crossed a line requiring disqualification. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Whipple , Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: A-2764-21, Categories: Education, Employment
J. Sumners finds that the trial court improperly determined that the 2017 misdemeanor conviction entered against defendant in Virginia did not preclude expungement because New Jersey's "clean slate" statute concerns those "who have not committed an offense in ten years." Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sumners Jr. , Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: A-0363-22, Categories: Criminal Procedure
J. Sabatino finds that the trial court properly ruled for a yacht club member who withdrew membership and sought return of his certificate of interest even if this meant he had to be paid back at a higher rate than he paid into the club. Members did not join the club strictly by the promise of a return on fees, and the club did not use certificates of interest as profit-making instruments. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sabatino, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: A-0557-22, Categories: Contract
J. Rose finds that the family court improperly terminated an incarcerated father's parental rights for violent assaults he committed against his son and placed the children with maternal grandparents in Dubai without the father's consent based on the wrongful conclusion that no alternatives existed. Reversed in part.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Rose, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: A-1540-21, Categories: Family Law
J. Firko finds that the tax court properly denied a Kansas-based manufacturer summary judgment as sought based on its contention that the wholesaler-to-wholesaler exemption prevented the manufacturer from being taxed for certain years. The court properly held that the underlying tax had not been "turned off" merely because the New Jersey legislature had only previously appropriated the clean communities program fund through a line item. Meanwhile, the legislature clearly intended to continue the program imposing the litter tax. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Firko , Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: A-1537-21, Categories: Tax
J. Sabatino finds that the department of transportation properly held that a state roadway project constituted "modification" of the means of access to a commercial building rather than "revocation" or "removal" of access. Under the plan, the building would be accessed from the state highway by private easement. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Sabatino , Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: A-2564-21, Categories: Property
[Consolidated.] J. Mawla finds that the trial court improperly held that property damage adjusters violated state licensing law on grounds that contracts failed to include proper language about customer rights and costs to the insured. The state banking commissioner misinterpreted state law to allow cancellation of contracts with public adjusters at any time, while the law requires all adjuster contracts to contain lists of services to be rendered. Reversed in part.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Mawla, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: A-3422-21, Categories: Licensing, Banking / Lending, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Gooden Brown finds that the trial court properly barred an expert in child abuse from testifying that shaking alone can cause injuries associated with shaken baby syndrome. Other experts have limited using data to calculate the likelihood of injury, and experts disagree on patterns of hemorrhages in such cases. In one case, accepting the testimony would require the jury to infer defendant harmed the baby even though the state could not explain how defendant had done so. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gooden Brown , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: A-2069-21, Categories: Experts, Child Victims
J. Gooden Brown finds that a restraining order was improperly entered against plaintiff's estranged wife, who released a video accusing him of improperly withholding a Jewish bill of divorce, because the video constitutes protected free speech. Meanwhile, the existence of a generalized history of members of the Jewish community acting violently to those who refuse to grant spouses "gittins" does not prove the video constituted a true threat. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gooden Brown , Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: A-0305-21, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
J. Susswein finds that the family court properly enforced a marital settlement agreement and allowed the Jewish beis din proceedings to take place. The husband testified he had not been coerced into signing the agreement and that he had agreed to the obligations under the Jewish beis din proceedings, and yet he had failed to comply with his obligations under the agreement. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Susswein, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: A-3535-21, Categories: Family Law
J. Gummer finds the trial court properly dismissed the complaint, which alleged the municipal clerk unfairly required the couple to appear in person to obtain a marriage license despite them being incarcerated in different federal prisons. The statute’s in-person requirement is not shown to be unconstitutional, and the state legislature provided a marriage-by-proxy procedure for certain individuals. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gummer, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: A-3155-21, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Vernoia finds the trial court improperly found law enforcement officers waited a reasonable time after knocking before forcibly entering defendant's home and arresting him for drug and weapons charges. There was no evidence that defendant had a violent criminal history, and the prior conviction for resisting arrest did not provide a basis for concluding that defendant posed a risk of violence. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Vernoia , Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: A-3379-21, Categories: Search
J. Gummer finds the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the state's assistant commissioner of health, who alleges he was fired after he made ethics complaints against the state police superintendent and was falsely accused by the governor of failing to disclose side consulting work. The governor's failure to conduct an investigation between the firing and a press conference addressing it says nothing about the statements made during the press conference. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gummer , Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: A-3695-21, Categories: Employment, Defamation
J. Gilson finds the trial court properly denied an adjudicatory hearing for an association which sought to overturn the agency's flood hazard area applicability determination for a farm. The request for an adjudicatory hearing was not a remedy because the association did not first exhaust all other avenues, and the association waited four years to request the hearing. Affirmed in part.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Gilson , Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: A-2491-20, Categories: Environment
J. Berdote Byrne finds that the trial court improperly ruled for the zoning board of adjustment in a decision denying a demotion permit on grounds that a building warranted historic preservation. The power to unilaterally determine the historical significance of a building is not authorized under the municipal land use law, and the building at issue was not identified as historic in the city's master plan. Meanwhile, the law does not authorize historic preservation officers to prevent zoning officials from issuing demolition permits. Reversed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Berdote Byrne , Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: A-1342-21, Categories: Municipal Law, Zoning