Bona v. Wynn

709 A.2d 837, 311 N.J. Super. 257, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 544
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedMarch 18, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 709 A.2d 837 (Bona v. Wynn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bona v. Wynn, 709 A.2d 837, 311 N.J. Super. 257, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 544 (N.J. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

WINKELSTEIN, J.S.C.

Plaintiff Jack Bona (Bona) was incarcerated on a writ of capias ad satisfaciendum (the writ) for failing to disclose his assets after a money judgment was entered against him. He was housed at the Atlantic County jail with the general prison population, assaulted by another inmate and sustained injuries. The claim against defendant Frank Markward (Markward), the warden of the jail, alleges that Markward violated N.J.S.A. 30:8-5, which provides that it shall be unlawful “for any ... jailer or keeper of any jail to confine or keep debtors and criminals together in the same room or chamber____” See N.J.S.A. 30:8-5. Plaintiff is seeking damages pursuant to N.J.SA 30:8-6, which states that a failure to abide N.J.S.A. 30:8-5 subjects the “keeper of the jail” to payment of double damages to any aggrieved party. See N.J.SA. 30:8-6. The central issue addressed by this opinion is whether N.J.S.A. 59:5-2(b)(4) of the Tort Claims Act (the Act), which provides that jail officials are not liable for any injury caused by one prisoner to another, impliedly repealed N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.

Bona is a former business executive who had plans to develop a casino in Atlantic City. He controlled a corporation known as Jack Bona, Inc., which entered into a real estate option agreement with GNAC, Corp. (GNAC), a subsidiary of Golden Nugget, in August 1983 to purchase a parcel of real estate upon which it was anticipated that a casino would be constructed. The purchase [261]*261price was $18,000,000 less any option payments previously paid. Jack Bona, Inc. assigned its rights as optionee to the Dunes Casino Hotel (Dunes), a partnership controlled by Bona. The parties scheduled closing for July 26, 1985. Bona, who was the managing partner of the Dunes, did not have the funds to close and defaulted. Several days prior to closing, Bona had filed a complaint against GNAC for specific performance and a lis pen-dens was placed against the property which was the subject of the agreement. At the time of closing GNAC was unaware of the suit and lis pendens. Subsequent to the default, GNAC filed suit against Bona, Jack Bona, Inc., and Queens Ventures, Inc. the Dunes’ property manager (the Bona defendants) to vacate the lis pendens and terminate the option agreement. The Bona defendants filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C.A § 1101 to 1174. Eventually GNAC obtained relief from the automatic stay and in April 1989 title to the property was cleared.

The GNAC suit consisted of five counts. The first four counts, which included claims for wrongful interference with the GNAC’s economic advantage, malicious prosecution in filing the lis pen-dens, malicious abuse of process, and slander of title, were dismissed. The Bona defendants defaulted under the fifth count, which alleged fraud. After a proof hearing, a damage award of $29,264,168 was entered against the Bona defendants. After an appeal, the Appellate Division remanded the matter back to the trial court and a second proof hearing was held. At the second proof hearing the law division found that Bona pursued a deliberate course of deception and misrepresentation under the option agreement and during the course of the subsequent litigation. The court concluded that Bona committed fraud and entered judgment against the Bona defendants for $10,406,821, plus $70,-006.71 in counsel fees. At the conclusion of the proof hearing, GNAC moved for a writ of capias ad satisfaciendum. The court issued the writ and Bona was immediately arrested and imprisoned. In an unreported decision, the Appellate Division affirmed the Law Division’s determination that Bona committed fraud and [262]*262concluded that the writ was lawfully issued. Bona was jailed from September 25, 1989 through August 19, 1991,1 initially at the correctional facility in Cape May County and subsequently at the Atlantic County jail. In the section of the jail in which Bona was being held there were prisoners who had been convicted of various offenses. During his incarceration at the Atlantic County jail, Bona was assaulted and sustained various injuries, including a broken rib.2

After his release from jail, Bona filed suit against various GNAC officials, the lawyer and law firm who moved for the writ, various government officials, the Newark Star-Ledger (Ledger), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The suit was originally filed in state court but was removed to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to address certain federal claims. The District Court dismissed the allegations against all of the defendants on substantive grounds, except those against Markward and the Ledger, which were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, since no federal claims remained. The instant suit was then filed against Markward and the Ledger. The claim against the Ledger has been dismissed. The only remaining claim relates to the applicability of N.J.S.A 30:8-5 and N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.

Bona alleges that since he was housed in the same area as the general prison population, rather than held separately as a debtor, [263]*263he was wrongfully confined in the county jail in violation of N.J.S.A. 30:8-5. He is seeking damages against Markward for the attack against him by another inmate based upon N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.

The statutes read as follows:

It shall not be lawful for any sheriff, jailer or keeper of any jail to confine or keep debtors and criminals together in the same room or chamber, but they shall be confined and kept separate and apart from each other in distinct rooms.
[N.J.S.A. 30:8-5.]
If any sheriff, undersheriff, jailer or other officer, or minister aforesaid, shall offend against the provisions of section 30:8-5 of this Title, every such offender shall, besides being punished on conviction for a misdemeanor,3 forfeit and pay double damages to the party aggrieved, to be recovered with costs, by a civil action in any court having cognizance thereof.
[N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.]

Markward does not deny that the assault occurred. However, he claims immunity from liability for any injuries Bona suffered from the assault pursuant to N.J.S.A 59:5 — 2(b)(4), which provides: “[Njeither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for: ... (b) any injury caused by ... (4) a prisoner to any other prisoner.” The issues thus presented are whether at the time of his incarceration, Bona was (1) a “debtor” under N.J.S.A. 30:8-5 and N.J.S.A. 30:8-6; or (2) a “prisoner” under N.J.S.A. 59:5-2(b)(4); or both; and, if he was both, (3) does N.J.S.A. 59:5 —2(b)(4) take precedence over N.J.S.A. 30:8-5 and N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.

First I will address whether he was a debtor for purposes N.J.S.A. 30:8-5 and N.J.S.A. 30:8-6.

N.J.S.A. 30:8-5 had its genesis in An Act concerning sheriffs, P.L. No. 1876, Ch. 4838, § 20 (1876), N.J. Compiled Stat. (revised 1877) (hereinafter, “the 1877 Act”). The current statute, effective January 15, 1971, is essentially unchanged from the 1877 Act, which read as follows:

[264]*26420. Debtors and criminals to be kept separate.

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Bluebook (online)
709 A.2d 837, 311 N.J. Super. 257, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bona-v-wynn-njsuperctappdiv-1997.