New Jersey Family Law Blog

A New Jersey apartment complex was hit with a $7.4 million judgment and an Old Bridge teenager was put under house arrest in two separate incidents involving underage drinking.
A jury found the Excelsior Apartments in Hackensack culpable in a hit-and-run accident, which left a New Jersey cardiologist seriously injured because the driver involved was drinking at a complex-hosted party just prior to the accident, despite the fact that he was under the legal drinking age. (1)

Dr. Henry Lau, former chief cardiologist at Hackensack University Medical Center, suffered multiple injuries when he was hit by a speeding car driven by 20-year-old David Figueroa. Figueroa fled the scene of the accident but was later caught and charged with assault by automobile and with leaving the scene of an accident. (1)

Both of Lau’s legs, along with his back, pelvis and several ribs were broken in the accident; he also received severe injuries to his face. As a result, Lau was hospitalized and spent six months undergoing rehabilitation. The doctor also had several operations to repair his injuries. Figueroa received a sentence of two months jail time, five years probation and 180 hours of community service.

Lau’s suit against the apartment complex claimed that the building’s employees played a part in the accident by hosting a pool party and allowing Figueroa to drink. Also named in the suit was Gabriel Ortiz, a doorman at the complex who, the suit alleged, granted permission for the party to take place.

The jury found that the Excelsior was 55% responsible for the accident; Figueroa, 25% responsible and Ortiz, 20% responsible. Under New Jersey law, the defendant charged with the majority of responsibility can be required to pay all of the damages, as was the case in this verdict. (1)

In a separate incident, 17-year-old Cash Johnson is under house arrest after being discovered in an intoxicated state at a sweet 16 party in Matawan. Johnson was one of five Old Bridge teenagers who had been charged in the beating death of Old Bridge man earlier this summer. In connection with that case, Johnson was released on $300,000 bail and issued a curfew.
When police investigated complaints about the November 13 sweet 16 party, they discovered Johnson intoxicated and in violation of his curfew. (2)

In New Jersey, the legal age for purchasing, possessing and consuming alcoholic beverages is 21. (3)

(1) http://www.northjersey.com/news/109387604_Apartment_complex_must_pay__7_4M_in_DWI_crash.html

(2) http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/old_bridge_teen_accused_of.html

(3) http://www.state.nj.us/lps/hts/alcohol.html

Some 220 children from New Jersey’s foster program found their "forever" homes this week when their adoptions were finalized in court procedures throughout the State. (1)

November is recognized as National Adoption Month. In celebration of this, counties throughout the State held a series of activities sponsored in a cooperative effort by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the court system. These activities culminated in the finalization of adoptions held during the week of November 15 with the largest number of adoptions taking place in Essex County where the adoption of 60 foster children were finalized. In the Hunterdon/Somerset/Warren County area, six foster children were legally adopted as part of these proceedings. Private adoptions throughout the State were also honored during this observation. (1)

The adoptions in New Jersey included the placement or reunion of siblings within the same adoptive family, special needs placements, teenage adoptions and adoptions by relatives or next of kin, as well as infant adoptions resulting from the State’s Safe Haven Program. Under the Safe Haven Infant Protection Act, individuals are able to anonymously and legally surrender unwanted infants under 30 days old at any police station or hospital emergency room throughout the state. (1)

In New Jersey the DCF’s Division of Youth and Family Services requires potential foster families and adoptive families to participate in the same licensing process. This practice ensures that there are a sufficient and diverse number of foster homes available; these homes can potentially become the permanent adoptive homes of the children placed there. The practice allows the agency to operate under the premise that the child’s first placement is the most appropriate and hopefully final placement. In New Jersey approximately 90% of adopted children are adopted by their foster families. (2)

National Adoption Month was originated as National Adoption Day 11 years ago by the Alliance for Children’s Rights. Organizations such as the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Freddie Mac Foundation supported this initiative as a means for raising awareness of children in the nation’s foster care system. Today there are approximately 123,000 children in that system awaiting adoption. (3)

(1) http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/news/press/approved/101112_adoptionday.html

(2) http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/government/67879-christie+administration+recognizes+national+adoption+month

(3) http://adoption.about.com/od/celebrationinspiration/a/adoptionday.htm

Hanover Direct Inc., a Weehawken, NJ company, has agreed to recall approximately 495,000 roman shades and 28,500 blinds following reports of the accidental death of a 22-month-old toddler from Cedar Falls, IO. Meanwhile, the blind industry is working to develop better standards for manufacturing safer window coverings in an effort to protect children from similar accidents. (1)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that the young boy was discovered by his father last May trapped in the cord of a roman shade. The toddler was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. It is estimated that one child dies each month in similar accidents. (1)
The problem is that young children can get tangled easily in the cords used to pull the shades up and down. The CPSC estimated that about 250 young children, including infants, have died from strangulation involving blind cords since 1990,. (2)

Earlier this month, another 22-month-old toddler from Burlington Township was critically injured after getting entangled in a window blind cord. The young girl was discovered by her mother and taken by medevac to Cooper University Hospital in Camden. (3)

Hanover Direct, parent company of Domestications, The Company Store and Company Kids, (1) is one of several companies who voluntarily agreed to recall their blinds and roman shades in 2009 following a March 2008 incident in which a 2-year-old Ocean View, DE, boy became entangled in roman shade cords after climbing on his toy chest to look out the window. Fortunately, that young boy did not sustain permanent injuries from this incident. (2)

At a meeting this month, the chairman of the CPSC addressed consumer advocates and officials from the window covering industry appealing to blind manufacturers to move quickly to approve new safety rules. It is expected that the current safety standards pertaining to roman shades will be used as a model for these new rules and will be expanded to cover other types of blinds. Those standards call for roman shades either to be cordless, or to have cords inaccessible to children, or cords that cannot form a hazardous loop in which a child can become entangled. (1)

(1) http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/weehawken_window_shades_compan.html

(2) http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11036.html

(3) http://www.nj.com/mercer/indexssf/2010/11/child_critical_aftter_accident.html

Last month the NJ Assembly Judiciary Committee approved three bills designed to help the New Jersey’s domestic violence victims. The bills address the issues of bail restrictions for restraining order violators, self-defense justification pleas, and lease and rental protections for domestic violence victims. (1)

Under the first bill, violators of restraining orders resulting from domestic violence incidents would be required to post the full amount of their bail, as opposed to the 10% currently required. The bail would need to be paid in cash or by bail or surety bond. In addition, bail would be increased to a minimum of $5,000 if the violation of the restraining order was criminal in nature and to a minimum of $2,500 if the violation amounted to a disorderly person offense. (2)

The second bill paves the way for a self-defense plea for victims of domestic violence. This bill would allow evidence of domestic violence restraining orders to be admitted and considered in cases where individuals protected by the orders used force to protect themselves against their abusers. (1)

The third bill would allow victims of domestic violence, including victims of stalking or sexual assault, to break a lease or rental agreement in order to escape a violent situation without incurring repercussions from future landlords. (3)

All three bills are pending consideration of the full Assembly. (1)

(1) http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/10/assembly_judiciary_committee_o.html

(2) http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/nj_assembly_advances_legislati.html

(3) http://www.politickernj.com/42158/assembly-committees-consider-bills-help-domestic-violence-victims-unemployed-residents-farmers