This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R.1:36-3.
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff Anthony Castronova appeals from an August 7, 2015 order dismissing his complaint against former Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, the Prosecutor's Office, Bergen County, and the State of New Jersey.
Plaintiff resigned his position as a Haworth police officer, under suspicion of involvement in organized crime. His letter of resignation stated that he resigned "in exchange for an agreement that I not be prosecuted for allegations of malfeasance in office and other related charges." The letter also acknowledged that, upon request, his former employer would provide a copy of the letter to any prospective law enforcement employer and "shall be immune from civil suit for so doing."
In his complaint, plaintiff asserted that Prosecutor Molinelli thereafter attempted to persuade other law enforcement agencies to refrain from hiring plaintiff, based on plaintiff's resignation from the Haworth police department on suspicion of criminal involvement. Plaintiff alleged that, as part of that effort, Molinelli asked officials of one of those police departments to listen to wiretap tapes from an organized crime investigation. Notably, the complaint does not allege that the information about plaintiff's resignation was false or that the wiretap tapes contained false information about him.
Plaintiff's complaint also recited that the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office indicted him for false swearing in connection with his application to two other police departments. The Prosecutor accused plaintiff of failing to disclose that he had resigned from the Haworth police department to avoid criminal prosecution. Plaintiff's complaint alleged that the prosecutions were ill-motivated and unjustified, and interfered with his ability to obtain another law enforcement job.
Plaintiff asserted causes of action for tortious interference with economic advantage and related theories, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress for the allegedly unwarranted criminal prosecutions, intentional or negligent misrepresentation, violation of constitutional rights, and claims under the New Jersey Civil Rights Act,
Our review of the judge's order entered under
Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the orders relating to the change of venue from Passaic County to Bergen County, for the reasons stated by Assignment Judge Ernest M. Caposela in his written opinion dated January 9, 2015.
Plaintiff's appellate arguments are without sufficient merit to warrant further discussion.
Affirmed.