STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. PETER DICKSON, JR. (23-2016, MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
• Decided: June 12, 2018
• Docket: A-4102-16T2
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."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.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-4102-16T2

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

PETER DICKSON, JR.,

Defendant-Appellant. ____________________________

Argued May 15, 2018 – Decided June 12, 2018

Before Judges Reisner and Mayer.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County, Municipal Appeal No. 23-2016.

Mitchell J. Ansell argued the cause for appellant (Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC, attorneys; Mitchell J. Ansell, of counsel and on the brief).

Joie D. Piderit argued the cause for respondent (Andrew C. Carey, Middlesex County Prosecutor, attorney; Joie D. Piderit, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM Defendant Peter Dickson, Jr. appeals from an April 20, 2017

order of the Law Division vacating a March 1, 2016 order of the

Monroe municipal court dismissing two complaints. We affirm.

On October 17, 2015, New Jersey State Trooper Michael A.

Heliotis issued two complaints-summonses for motor vehicle

violations to defendant. The first complaint charged defendant

with driving while intoxicated, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, and the second

complaint charged defendant with driving while license suspended,

N.J.S.A. 39:3-40.1 The complaints listed Monroe as the

municipality where the infractions occurred. Defendant pleaded

not guilty to the Monroe tickets.

On January 11, 2016, the Monroe Township municipal court

administrator contacted Heliotis, ex parte, explaining the

violations occurred in South Brunswick, not Monroe.2 The

administrator instructed the trooper to reissue the Monroe tickets

from South Brunswick.

1 We refer to these complaints as the Monroe tickets. 2 Substantive communications regarding municipal court matters should be on notice to all counsel and all parties. Ex parte communications of a consequential nature in municipal court should be avoided.

2 A-4102-16T2 On or about January 25, 2016, Heliotis issued two new

complaints-summonses from South Brunswick.3 The South Brunswick

tickets were identical to the Monroe tickets, except for

designating the municipality where the infractions occurred. The

date on the South Brunswick tickets was October 17, 2015, although

the South Brunswick tickets were actually issued three months

later.

On February 25, 2016, the Monroe municipal prosecutor signed

a "request to dismiss or void complaint" form related to the Monroe

tickets. The Monroe municipal prosecutor made a note to the file

regarding the dismissal of the Monroe tickets. The note read:

On February 24, 2016[,] we spoke with Mr. Dickson's new attorney, . . . and confirmed that this matter is being transferred to South Brunswick by way of an "administrative dismissal" of the E-tickets which inadvertently contained the incorrect municipal code. We further explained that the matter will proceed via the new E-tickets issued by the same trooper containing the correct municipal code. We confirmed with [defense counsel] that this is not a dismissal of the charges or an adjudication of the matter and that it should not be misconstrued as same.

On March 1, 2016, the Monroe municipal court judge dismissed

the Monroe tickets without prejudice. Counsel were not present

3 We refer to these complaints as the South Brunswick tickets.

3 A-4102-16T2 in court on this date. The Monroe municipal court judge read the

note from the Monroe municipal prosecutor into the record. The

order dismissing the Monroe tickets checked the box marked

"dismissed-other" and stated "reissued tickets to be heard in

S[outh] Brunswick."

On March 29, 2016, defendant appeared in South Brunswick

municipal court. On or about April 12, 2016, defendant moved to

dismiss the South Brunswick tickets based upon the statute of

limitations. On May 31, 2016, the South Brunswick municipal court

judge heard argument on defendant's motion. On June 14, 2016, the

South Brunswick municipal court judge entered an order dismissing

the South Brunswick tickets based upon the ninety-day statute of

limitations, N.J.S.A. 39:5-3(b).

On June 28, 2016, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office

appealed the South Brunswick municipal court judge's June 14, 2016

order to the Law Division. In filing the municipal appeal, the

State acknowledged there were proceedings in the Monroe Township

municipal court "that could impact upon this appeal."

The Law Division judge heard argument on the State's municipal

appeal. The State argued the dismissal of the South Brunswick

tickets resulted from a "ministerial malfunction" and "technical

glitch," for which the State should not be penalized.

4 A-4102-16T2 By order dated April 20, 2017, the Law Division judge vacated

the Monroe municipal court's March 1, 2016 order dismissing the

Monroe tickets, remanded the case to Monroe municipal court to

amend the municipality designation, and directed the Monroe

municipal court to transfer the Monroe tickets to South Brunswick.

The judge found defendant had adequate and timely notice of the

violations based on the Monroe tickets. He also determined

defendant was aware, prior to March 1, 2016, that the same

violations alleged in the Monroe tickets would be heard in the

South Brunswick municipal court. The judge acknowledged "the

appropriate procedure for the Monroe [m]unicipal [c]ourt was to

amend the [Monroe tickets] and transfer the matter to South

Brunswick. However, in an attempt to achieve the same outcome,

the Monroe [m]unicipal [c]ourt judge erroneously dismissed the

[Monroe tickets] with an instruction to re-file in South

Brunswick." The Law Division judge concluded

[b]ecause the identical action against defendant remained open under different [tickets] in South Brunswick, the Monroe [m]unicipal [c]ourt dismissal did not start the 20-day clock on filing an appeal of a pre- trial judgment dismissing a complaint. The clock only began to run when the charges were dismissed in the South Brunswick [m]unicipal [c]ourt.

Defendant appeals from the April 20, 2017 order of the Law

Division, arguing the Law Division judge erred in vacating the

5 A-4102-16T2 Monroe municipal court's March 1, 2016 dismissal order, because:

(1) that order was not designated in the State's appeal to the Law

Division, and (2) the twenty-day deadline for the State to appeal

the Monroe municipal court order expired on March 21, 2016.

In reviewing a judgment of the Law Division on a municipal

appeal, we apply a sufficiency of the evidence standard. See

State v. Ugrovics, 410 N.J. Super. 482, 487 (App. Div. 2009). We

must "determine whether the findings made [by the Law Division

judge] could reasonably have been reached on sufficient credible

evidence present in the record." State v. Johnson, 42 N.J. 146,

162 (1964).

The Law Division judge's "interpretation of the law and the

legal consequences that flow from established facts are not

entitled to any special deference." Ugrovics, 410 N.J. Super. at

487 (quoting Manalapan Realty, L.P. v. Twp. Comm. of Manalapan,

140 N.J. 366, 378 (1995)). We review such determinations de novo.

Id. at 487-88.

In the unusual circumstances of this case, we find no error

in the Law Division judge's decision to treat the without prejudice

dismissal order of the Monroe municipal court as an interlocutory

order, rather than a final order, until such time as the South

Brunswick municipal court dismissed the violations against

defendant. On this record, we further find that, in the interest

6 A-4102-16T2 of justice, the Law Division judge properly treated the State's

appeal as encompassing the orders of both municipal courts. Thus,

we affirm the Law Division judge's April 20, 2017 order and direct

that the matter be tried before the South Brunswick municipal

court within sixty days.

Affirmed.

7 A-4102-16T2