Gruber v. Gruber.

• Decision Date: 03 February 1947
• Docket Number: No. 219.,219.
• Citation: 51 A.2d 118
• Parties: GRUBER v. GRUBER.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

51 A.2d 118

GRUBER

v.GRUBER.

No. 219.

Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey.

Feb. 3, 1947.

Appeal from Chancery Court.

Suit for divorce by Mary Gruber against Eugene Gruber on ground of extreme cruelty. From a decree, advised by advisory master, dismissing petitioner's petition and ordering that her counsel be paid by defendant a counsel fee of $100, the petitioner appeals.

Decree modified by increasing counsel fee to $200 and, as modified, affirmed.

Peter J. McGinnis, of Paterson (Ward & McGinnis, of Paterson, of counsel), for appellant.

Chandless, Weller & Kramer, of Hackensack (Julius E. Kramer, of Hackensack, of counsel), for espondent.

WELLS, Judge.

This is an appeal of the wife from a decree of the Court of Chancery, dated June 11, 1946, advised by Advisory Master Campbell, dismissing her petition for divorce from her husband on the ground of his extreme cruelty, and ordering that her counsel be paid by her husband a counsel fee of $100.00. The petition was filed September 28, 1945, and alleges that the parties were married on June 15, 1935, that there were two boys born of the marriage, ages 9 and 5 respectively.

The wife charges that ever since their marriage her husband has been guilty of extreme cruelty toward her. The petition alleges that, commencing with the year 1936, the husband became abusive and called her opprobrious names in the presence of her children; that during the years 1943 to 1945 he conducted himself in a cruel and inhuman manner by forcibly and physically imposing upon her so frequently and to such extent as to greatly undermine her physical and nervous systems. In support of the allegations of her petition, the wife testified of assaults and batteries of her husband upon her and of threats of bodily harm to her, vituperations, accusations of infidelity in the presence of the children and others and other charges too numerous to mention. These various charges are alleged to have occurred during the months of August, 1941, June, 1943, May and July, 1944. As a result of the husband's continued ill-treatment of his wife and abusive conduct toward her, she claims her life was rendered on of utter wretchedness and misery, and her health became greatly impaired, and she was put in fear of her life and safety.

It would serve no useful purpose to recite in detail the testimony of the parties in support and in denial of the wife's petition. They are fully discussed in conclusions filed by the advisory master marked ‘not to be printed.’

The last act of cruelty complained of occurred in July, 1944, upon the wife's arrival home from a birthday party at two o'clock in the morning with her sister. She said that the husband threatened her with a butcher knife and severely choked her; that she left his bed at that time, and since March, 1944, they had not sexually cohabited, except on one occasion in October, 1944, when he took advantage of her while she was drunk and unconscious of the act until its completion. She did not leave the husband's home until November 5, 1945, which was several weeks after she filed her petition. It is to be noted that, despite the wife's alleged fear of her husband, she continued to live in the same house with him for a period of 16 months after the occurrence of the last alleged act of cruelty.

If the acts complained of had actually occurred, and the wife had been in fear of her life, it seems unlikely that she would have continued to remain in the same danger zone where she says she had suffered so many wounds. Her explanation for this is that she could not sooner obtain another place to live. In February, 1944, while they were living at Fairlawn, New Jersey, the wife obtained a position as a telephone operator in Paterson, and yet the wife admits that the husband adequately supported his family and maintained the home, and she gave no good reason for having obtained employment.

It may be helpful to briefly call attention to certain parts of the wife's testimony given on cross examination. She admitted having thrown a plate at the husband inflicting a permanent scar on his temple; that when her husband reduced her household allowance to $25.00 weekly because she had refused to account to him for her expenditures, she threw the money in his face; that arguments had frequently arisen because he objected to her visiting taverns, returning home at two and three o'clock in the morning and refusing to account for her whereabouts or companions. She admitted having a struggle with her husband in October, 1945, to gain possession of two letters written in August, 1944, and addressed to ‘Mrs. Mary Gruber, P. O. Box 2464, Paterson, New Jersey.’ The envelopes of these letters were postmarked ‘Camp Van Dorn, Miss.’ The husband testified he found these letters in her closet. They were shown to her on cross examination. She denied having received them or knowing Pfc. Harold White, the writer. The contents of these letters, if accepted as true, bespoke an...