J.N. v. D.S.
| Decision Date | 23 December 1996 |
| Citation | 300 N.J.Super. 647,693 A.2d 571 |
| Parties | J.N., Plaintiff, v. D.S., Defendant. Family Part, Morris County |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court |
Kathleen Healy Sims, Mendham, for plaintiff.
Ira Cohen, Hackensack, for defendant.
This matter came before the Court for a final hearing under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act after a temporary restraining order had been issued in New Jersey to the victim. The question to be decided is whether or not a New Jersey court has jurisdiction to enter a Final Restraining Order where the alleged act of domestic violence occurred in another State, but where the victim fled to New Jersey for shelter.
J.N. and D.S. were both residents of the State of New Jersey. They dated while in high school and continued their dating relationship after D.S. went off to college in Nebraska and J.N. went to school in Massachusetts. D.S. invited J.N. to visit with him in Nebraska. She accepted his invitation and later decided to transfer from Massachusetts to Nebraska because she liked the campus in Nebraska better and thought the school had more to offer.
Some time after J.N. transferred to Nebraska, J.N. and D.S. terminated their dating relationship, but they continued to see each other. One night, J.N. was at a party at D.S.'s fraternity house with a fraternity brother of D.S.'s. D.S. arrived at the party a little later in the evening. Upon his arrival, he immediately engaged in an altercation with his fraternity brother. He then turned to J.N., verbally attacked her, slapped her on the neck, spat beer into her face and pushed and shoved her. She left the party with friends and went back to her apartment. Later that evening, she went out for coffee. When she returned, D.S. was waiting for her in the parking lot of her apartment. He proceeded to yell at her, call her and her mother obscene names and threatened he was going to make her life a living hell.
J.N. was frightened and felt her life and well-being were in danger. She went to the local police station, but they were unable to provide her with the assistance she sought. 1 She called her father in New Jersey who advised her that if she were that frightened, she should return home to New Jersey. She followed his advice, packed up her belongings and drove home to New Jersey. On August 29, 1996, nine days after the incident, she filed a domestic violence complaint against D.S. in New Jersey and obtained a T.R.O.
D.S. was served by mail in Nebraska with a copy of the complaint and the T.R.O. Because he was not returning to the State of New Jersey until winter recess, a continued restraining order was entered and a hearing was not scheduled until December 23, 1996.
D.S. sought to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. D.S. claimed that because the incident took place outside of New Jersey, that New Jersey lacked jurisdiction to enter a restraining order against him pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:25-28a.
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