NJ & CT News

The appeals court held, in Department of Children and Families v. E.D.-O, that it was not improper to find a parent guilty of abuse or neglect based only on her leaving her child briefly alone in a car while she shopped. The mother in question left her 19-month old child sleeping in its car seat while she shopped in a Dollar Tree store for five or 10 minutes. The car was left running and the doors were locked. When the mother returned to the parking lot, police who had been alerted to the situation by a security guard were there to meet her.

New Jersey's Department of Children and Families' Division of Child Protection and Placement investigated and determined, without holding an evidentiary hearing, that a finding of abuse and neglect was appropriate. On appeal, the woman argued that she was entitled to a hearing and that her leaving a child in a locked car was insufficient evidence from which to find abuse and neglect. The relevant statute, N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21(c)(4), says a parent can be found guilty of abuse or neglect if she does not exercise a “minimum degree of care.” The statute does not define what it means to exercise a “minimum standard of care,” but the State Supreme Court held, in G. S. v. DHS, 157 N.J. 161 (1999), that “grossly or wantonly negligent but not necessarily intended” conduct would suffice, as would evidence that a parent failed “adequately to supervise the child or recklessly creat[ed] a risk of severe injury to that child.” In a footnote, the appellate panel referenced Hawaiian legislative proceedings, in which lawmakers there discussed the added dangers of leaving children in a car: They may overheat or be kidnapped as an unintended consequence of a car theft. Sustaining the agency's abuse and neglect findings, Appellate Division Judge Clarkson Fisher Jr. concluded that although leaving a child alone may not always constitute neglect, leaving it in a car is another matter because “a parent invites substantial peril when leaving a child of such tender years alone in a motor vehicle that is out of the parent's sight, no matter how briefly.”

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Child Support Arrears Belong to Mother's Estate, Not to Emancipated Son

Back child support payments that were due to a mother at the time of her death are part of her estate, and do not belong to her emancipated son, said New Jersey's Appellate Division in its Dec. 31, 2013, decision in Roder v. Roder. When the mother died, the adoptive father ' who had agreed as part of the couple's 1997 divorce to pay $150 per week in child support ' owed her more than $40,000. The deceased's administrator demanded that the arrears be paid into the estate, but the father and son objected, asking that the money be allowed to be paid directly to the son. The trial judge sided with the father and son after finding that it would be in the son's best interest to be given the money directly; by that time, the 27-year-old had education expenses to cover. On appeal, however, the court found that the money was owed to the mother, not the son. “While our courts have stated that child support belongs to the child, that assertion is generally found in discussions of the general principle that one parent cannot waive a child's right to receive support from the other,” the judges stated. Here, the agreed-upon payments were supposed to be for child support, not for educational expenses, and the father had no obligation under the agreement to pay college expenses. “In short,” concluded the court, “there was nothing before the Family Part that suggested that these child support arrears were anything other than a debt [the father] owed to [his ex-wife] for supporting their child at the time of her death.” As such, these funds must be treated as part of her estate.'

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New Law Makes Cyber Harassment Its Own Crime

A new law in New Jersey criminalizes cyber-harassment, making it a fourth-degree criminal offense to use an electronic device or social networking site to harass someone. Previously, people who harassed others over the Internet or through social networking sites could be pursued only on charges of disorderly conduct. Although the law was enacted primarily in response to cyber-bullying that led some young victims to commit suicide, it may also help' stop harassment on these media by unhappy former romantic partners. When committed by a person over the age of 16, the crime is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 18 months.

CONNECTICUT

Is Wife's Murder Connected to Husband's Suicide?

A doctor found guilty of medical malpractice for failing to diagnose and treat a man who killed his wife (whom he suspected of cheating on him) and then committed suicide is seeking a retrial, claiming that the court improperly allowed in extraneous evidence that prejudiced the jury. Specifically, another doctor was allowed to testify that the murder/suicide was a single event, so that damages for the wife's murder were recoverable based on the patient's aggression, which the plaintiffs claim could have been prevented had he received the proper medical diagnosis and referral. The defense also argues that there was no evidence presented to show that the deceased showed signs of suicidal or homicidal ideation. The suit was brought by the deceased man's family.

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NEW JERSEY

Mother Who Left Child Unattended in Locked Car Guilty of Child Abuse

Leaving a child alone in a car with the motor running for even just a few minutes can be enough to sustain a finding of abuse and neglect, a New Jersey appeals court ruled recently.

The appeals court held, in Department of Children and Families v. E.D.-O, that it was not improper to find a parent guilty of abuse or neglect based only on her leaving her child briefly alone in a car while she shopped. The mother in question left her 19-month old child sleeping in its car seat while she shopped in a Dollar Tree store for five or 10 minutes. The car was left running and the doors were locked. When the mother returned to the parking lot, police who had been alerted to the situation by a security guard were there to meet her.

New Jersey's Department of Children and Families' Division of Child Protection and Placement investigated and determined, without holding an evidentiary hearing, that a finding of abuse and neglect was appropriate. On appeal, the woman argued that she was entitled to a hearing and that her leaving a child in a locked car was insufficient evidence from which to find abuse and neglect. The relevant statute, N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21(c)(4), says a parent can be found guilty of abuse or neglect if she does not exercise a “minimum degree of care.” The statute does not define what it means to exercise a “minimum standard of care,” but the State Supreme Court held, in G. S. v. DHS , 157 N.J. 161 (1999), that “grossly or wantonly negligent but not necessarily intended” conduct would suffice, as would evidence that a parent failed “adequately to supervise the child or recklessly creat[ed] a risk of severe injury to that child.” In a footnote, the appellate panel referenced Hawaiian legislative proceedings, in which lawmakers there discussed the added dangers of leaving children in a car: They may overheat or be kidnapped as an unintended consequence of a car theft. Sustaining the agency's abuse and neglect findings, Appellate Division Judge Clarkson Fisher Jr. concluded that although leaving a child alone may not always constitute neglect, leaving it in a car is another matter because “a parent invites substantial peril when leaving a child of such tender years alone in a motor vehicle that is out of the parent's sight, no matter how briefly.”

'

Child Support Arrears Belong to Mother's Estate, Not to Emancipated Son

Back child support payments that were due to a mother at the time of her death are part of her estate, and do not belong to her emancipated son, said New Jersey's Appellate Division in its Dec. 31, 2013, decision in Roder v. Roder. When the mother died, the adoptive father ' who had agreed as part of the couple's 1997 divorce to pay $150 per week in child support ' owed her more than $40,000. The deceased's administrator demanded that the arrears be paid into the estate, but the father and son objected, asking that the money be allowed to be paid directly to the son. The trial judge sided with the father and son after finding that it would be in the son's best interest to be given the money directly; by that time, the 27-year-old had education expenses to cover. On appeal, however, the court found that the money was owed to the mother, not the son. “While our courts have stated that child support belongs to the child, that assertion is generally found in discussions of the general principle that one parent cannot waive a child's right to receive support from the other,” the judges stated. Here, the agreed-upon payments were supposed to be for child support, not for educational expenses, and the father had no obligation under the agreement to pay college expenses. “In short,” concluded the court, “there was nothing before the Family Part that suggested that these child support arrears were anything other than a debt [the father] owed to [his ex-wife] for supporting their child at the time of her death.” As such, these funds must be treated as part of her estate.'

'

New Law Makes Cyber Harassment Its Own Crime

A new law in New Jersey criminalizes cyber-harassment, making it a fourth-degree criminal offense to use an electronic device or social networking site to harass someone. Previously, people who harassed others over the Internet or through social networking sites could be pursued only on charges of disorderly conduct. Although the law was enacted primarily in response to cyber-bullying that led some young victims to commit suicide, it may also help' stop harassment on these media by unhappy former romantic partners. When committed by a person over the age of 16, the crime is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 18 months.

CONNECTICUT

Is Wife's Murder Connected to Husband's Suicide?

A doctor found guilty of medical malpractice for failing to diagnose and treat a man who killed his wife (whom he suspected of cheating on him) and then committed suicide is seeking a retrial, claiming that the court improperly allowed in extraneous evidence that prejudiced the jury. Specifically, another doctor was allowed to testify that the murder/suicide was a single event, so that damages for the wife's murder were recoverable based on the patient's aggression, which the plaintiffs claim could have been prevented had he received the proper medical diagnosis and referral. The defense also argues that there was no evidence presented to show that the deceased showed signs of suicidal or homicidal ideation. The suit was brought by the deceased man's family.

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