NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . In this collection action, defendant Gilbert Gonzalez appeals an order denying his motion to vacate a default judgment that was entered nearly six years earlier. We affirm. The record reveals that plaintiff, Palisades Collection, LLC, filed its complaint in the Essex County Special Civil Part on May 1, 2007. Plaintiff sought payment of $3124.37 allegedly owed on defendant's delinquent Verizon account. Pursuant...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . In this personal injury case, defendant Michelle Grunberg appeals from a May 23, 2014 order denying her motion for a new trial, which challenged the trial court's decisions as to juror misconduct and the striking of defendant's comparative negligence defense. On her appeal, defendant presents the following points for our consideration: POINT I DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED TO DE NOVO REVIEW OF THE TRIAL COURT'S...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ESPINOSA , J.A.D. In Klier v. Sordoni Skanska Construction Co., 337 N.J.Super. 76 , 766 A.2d 761 (App.Div.2001), we held the plaintiffs were denied due process of law when a trial court sua sponte conducted a summary procedure on the day of trial and dismissed their complaint. This medical malpractice case presents an unfortunately more common variation of the scenario in which a litigant's case is dismissed on the day of trial. Although...
The opinion of the court was delivered by ALVAREZ , P.J.A.D. Plaintiff J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc., (J-M) appeals the dismissal, based on the entire controversy doctrine, of its complaint. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Law Division judge's conclusion that J-M should have pursued its causes of action in the pending California whistleblower qui tam proceeding filed under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C.A. 3729-3732, and not in New Jersey. I. Defendant John...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Corderrol Priester appeals from a May 2, 2014 order denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR). On this appeal, defendant raises the following point of argument: THIS MATTER MUST BE REMANDED FOR AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING BECAUSE DEFENDANT ESTABLISHED A PRIMA FACIE CLAIM OF TRIAL COUNSEL'S INEFFECTIVENESS FOR FAILING TO CONSULT ADEQUATELY WITH HIM. We affirm, substantially for the reasons...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Prabakaran Kesavan appeals his conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI) that followed from his de novo appeal to the Law Division. We affirm. On May 20 2012, defendant was stopped by the Runnemede Police Department based on a tip about erratic driving. After the odor of alcohol was detected, defendant failed the field sobriety test that was administered. Once placed in custody, defendant was...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . This matter returns to us after a remand for the purpose of an evidentiary hearing to explore claims of juror impropriety and whether defense counsel had knowledge of the alleged impropriety. See State v. Comer , No. A-1675-10 (App. Div. Oct. 23, 2012) ( Comer III). Having considered the record from the evidentiary proceeding, we affirm the judge's order dated November 6, 2013, denying defendant's petition for...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION The opinion of the court was delivered by SUMNERS, Jr. , J.A.D. Defendant Christopher Fountain appeals from an order denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing. We affirm. Defendant was a regular patron of a nightclub located in Atlantic City. On April 6, 2007, at approximately 3:00 a.m., one of the nightclub's bouncers witnessed defendant getting into a verbal altercation with a...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Charles Murphy appeals from an order entered by the Law Division on August 1, 2014, denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR). We affirm. Defendant was charged under Essex County Indictment No. 12-04-1178 with third-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b (count one); and fourth-degree unlawful possession of knives, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5d (counts two, three and four). On...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . This twenty-year-old oppressed shareholder action returns to us for the third time. When last here, we remanded for the trial court's resolution of two narrow but related business valuation issues — whether a marketability discount had already been embedded in the valuation the trial court previously adopted; if not, we mandated the application of a marketability discount. The trial judge found, following an...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . The court has been advised that this matter has been resolved, and the parties have stipulated to the dismissal of this appeal. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed with prejudice and without costs to any party.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Appellant, Charles DiGregorio, appeals a provision in the July 11, 2014 order that denied his petition to expunge a 1980 disorderly persons conviction for lewdness. We affirm. I On December 10, 1980, appellant was convicted in municipal court of lewdness, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-4, and sentenced to two years of probation and assessed a fine of $275. At the time of his conviction, lewdness was a disorderly persons...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Plaintiff Theresa Kamery appeals from a June 3, 2014 Law Division order that dismissed her legal malpractice complaint against defendant David W. Trombadore, Esq. for failure to comply with the Affidavit of Merit Statute (AMS), N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-26 to-29. Defendant cross-appeals from prior orders entered on March 10 and April 1, 2014, which allowed plaintiff's complaint to be reinstated after her first affidavit...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Anthony A. Vinas appeals the denial of his post-conviction relief (PCR) petition by the trial judge after an evidentiary hearing. Defendant was caught on video committing one robbery, and was caught with the weapon and the proceeds from a second robbery and was promptly identified by the victim. We affirm the May 13, 2013 order denying the PCR petition. I. The facts established in defendant's trial...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION The opinion of the court was delivered by SUMNERS, Jr. , J.A.D. Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of third-degree burglary, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2. The trial judge sentenced defendant as a persistent offender, N.J.S.A. 2C:44-3(a), to a ten-year extended term subject to five years of parole ineligibility. Defendant contends that the judge committed plain error by failing to instruct the jury on identification...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . This appeal requires our consideration of a lease provision that granted the tenant "the ongoing right to terminate its obligations" provided "the tenant is selling or moving [its] business" (emphasis added). In granting partial summary judgment in the tenant's favor, Judge Dennis F. Carey, III, concluded that this provision permitted the tenant to terminate the lease years after the sale of its business...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Petitioner appeals from an April 14, 2014 final agency decision by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (the DOC) denying his petition for rulemaking. We affirm. Petitioner was in the custody of the DOC from July 1991 to May 2011. Between March 1993 and May 2003, petitioner committed dozens of disciplinary infractions and was penalized a total of 6688 commutation days. In 2007, petitioner filed multiple...
The opinion of the court was delivered by LIHOTZ , P.J.A.D. Defendant David Hudson, a Newark police officer, was indicted on July 18, 2014, charged with third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b); fourth-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(4); second-degree possession of a weapon with purpose to use it unlawfully against another, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(a); and official misconduct, N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2(b). The charges stem from a road rage incident, during...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Christopher Lawless (Lawless) and Illinois National Insurance Company (Illinois National) (collectively, plaintiffs) appeal from a Law Division order granting a motion to dismiss in favor of MSCI Inc. (MSCI), RiskMetrics Group, LLC (RiskMetrics) and Institutional Shareholders Services, Inc. (ISS) (collectively, MSCI defendants) and from an order granting the MSCI defendants' motion for summary judgment and...
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . This is a residential mortgage foreclosure case. Defendants Juan C. and Madharshini Delacruz appeal from the July 12, 2013 order of the Chancery Division that denied their motion to vacate default judgment entered in favor of plaintiff Lynx Asset Services, LLC. Utilizing the services of a mortgage broker, on February 8, 2007, defendants borrowed $570,000 and executed a mortgage and note in favor of GE Money Bank...
