J.W.D., Matter of

• Decision Date: 06 May 1997
• Citation: 149 N.J. 108,693 A.2d 92
• Parties: In the Matter of Return of Weapons to J.W.D.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Page 108

149 N.J. 108

693 A.2d 92

In the Matter of Return of Weapons to J.W.D.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued Jan. 7, 1997.

Decided May 6, 1997.

James C. Lankford, Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for appellant State of New Jersey (Sharon B. Ransavage, Hunterdon County Prosecutor, attorney).

Gary J. Needleman, Montville, argued the cause for respondent J.W.D. (Needleman and Schocket, attorneys; Irene A. Cirolla, Clinton, on the brief).

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

POLLOCK, J.

The dispositive legal issue is whether a defendant in an action under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 to -33 ("Domestic Violence Act" or the "Act"), is entitled to the return of firearms if the trial court, after dismissing the domestic violence complaint, concludes that the defendant poses a threat to public health, safety, or welfare. The Chancery Division, Family Part, held that defendant posed such a threat, notwithstanding its prior dismissal of the domestic violence complaint. Consequently, the court ordered the disposition of defendant's guns under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-21d(3) and N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3c, the statute pertaining to the licensing of firearms. The Appellate Division agreed that the Family Part had the authority to retain and dispose of the weapons, but disagreed with the trial court's finding that defendant posed a threat to the public. 290 N.J.Super. 451, 676 A.2d 138 (1996). It directed the Hunterdon County Prosecutor to return defendant's guns to him. We granted the State's petition for certification. 146 N.J. 496, 683 A.2d 199 (1996). We affirm the holding that the Family Part has the authority to retain and dispose of weapons even after the dismissal of a domestic violence complaint. We remand the matter to the Family Part for further factual findings on the issue of the return to defendant of his weapons.

I

S.D. and defendant, J.W.D., are now divorced. Before their divorce, S.D. filed two domestic violence complaints against defendant in two years. On June 2, 1992, when S.D. filed the first domestic violence complaint, the police confiscated defendant's guns and firearms purchaser identification card. S.D. agreed to dismiss the complaint, separate from defendant, and attend counseling with him.

On dismissal of the complaint, defendant wrote to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office for the return of the guns and the card. In his letter, defendant, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, explained:

It would be a trivial matter for me to enter any hardware store and leave with enough common materials to fabricate a highly effective firearm and ammunition to use in it. The so called weapons which you have confiscated from me are sporting instruments which amuse me and have great emotional attachment as a result of many happy hours of recreation.

The Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office returned defendant's weapons and firearms identification card.

S.D.'s and J.W.D.'s attempts at reconciliation failed, and on August 27, 1992, S.D. filed for divorce. While the divorce action was pending, she filed the second domestic violence complaint. The complaint arose out of a confrontation on December 26, 1994, when S.D. went to defendant's house to pick up their son, who was visiting defendant. On filing the complaint, S.D. obtained a temporary restraining order that again required confiscation of defendant's weapons and firearms purchaser identification card. Accordingly, the police confiscated defendant's Browning Challenger .22 caliber semi-automatic long rifle, Star .380 caliber semi-automatic, Remington 700 30-06 caliber bolt action rifle, Remington 870 twelve gauge pump action shotgun, and identification card. Defendant filed a cross-complaint in the domestic violence action.

In a hearing before the Family Part, the following facts emerged. When S.D. went to pick up her son, he was not wearing a new coat that he had worn when he went to defendant's house. S.D. told defendant that she wanted the coat. J.W.D. tried to close the door. S.D. put her foot between the storm door and the house door. She claimed that defendant then tried to push her off the porch.

At the hearing, S.D. presented photographs showing bruises that she sustained as the result of the altercation. Defendant claimed that S.D. had scratched him. S.D. claimed that she scratched J.W.D. while trying to hold onto him after he pushed her so she would not lose her balance. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Family Part dismissed the complaints and dissolved the temporary restraining order.

Defendant then sent a second letter to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office requesting the return of his weapons. In it, he stated that "[t]his law like so many others is being used by women to punish men." Defendant enclosed a copy of the letter he had written to the prosecutor's office when his weapons had been seized as a result of the earlier domestic violence complaint.

After conducting an investigation, which included interviewing S.D., the prosecutor filed an objection to the return of the weapons and identification card to defendant.

II

The weapons hearing proceeded on May 25, 1995, before the same judge who had presided over the domestic violence hearing. S.D. testified about the events of December 26, 1994. She also recounted an incident that had occurred on September 15, 1992, when, shortly after the couple separated, she returned to the marital home to retrieve her belongings. According to S.D., defendant had affixed Post-it notes to the windows stating "Danger, enter at your own risk." Rather than open the door, S.D. peered into the kitchen window, where she saw a device that looked like a spring gun covered with a towel and a cord that seemed to be connected to the door. S.D. believed she would be injured by the contraption if she were to use the door. On looking into the garage, she saw a device under a blanket that looked like a rifle rigged to fire if she entered. S.D. left the premises. She returned later, entered the home through a window, and discovered that the "gun" was a drill under a towel and the "rifle" was a broom attached to a string. The Post-it notes were gone.

S.D. also recounted that in the course of their marriage, defendant would play country-western music, strap on a holster, and walk around the house drawing his gun. She did not know if the gun was loaded during these incidents.

Defendant testified that S.D.'s account of the booby-trapped doors was a "total fabrication" and denied placing the Post-it notes on the windows. Concerning the allegation that he had rigged a drill to look like a gun, he explained, "[i]f there was a tool there, there could have been a towel over it or something, but certainly nothing like--that she described, that's unbelievable." As to the garage, he testified, "our garage is pretty messy ... there could have been a broomstick laying out there, I don't know."

A court-ordered custody evaluation report, which was admitted into evidence, indicated that defendant:

[M]ay respond to rebuffs to his self esteem with a wide range of unpredictable behaviors including explosive anger, depression, anxiety and withdrawal. Although he is likely to regain his typical posture of equanimity, he may employ extreme forms of impulsive coping behaviors which may include irresponsible acting out.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found:

I am satisfied from testimony that this is a volatile situation.... I do accept [the wife's] version of events.

I am satisfied from all the evidence that the issuance or continued possession of the firearms purchaser or identification card by [the husband] would not be in the interest of public health, safety or welfare as that standard is used in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3. I also believe that under the circumstances and pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:25-21, [he] does pose a threat to his wife in these circumstances, [and] will therefore order forfeiture, or the revocation of his firearms purchaser's identification card. I will also direct that his weapons be forfeited.

The Appellate Division agreed that N.J.S.A. 2C:25-21d(3), authorized seizure of the weapons and firearms purchaser identification card even after the dismissal of the domestic violence complaint. Taking a different view of the facts, however, the Appellate Division concluded that defendant did not pose a risk to public safety or to his ex-wife. Accordingly, the court ordered the return of defendant's weapons and identification card.

III

In the Domestic Violence Act the Legislature made clear its intent to protect victims of actual and potential domestic violence:

It is therefore, the intent of the Legislature to assure the victims of domestic violence the maximum protection from abuse the law can provide.

....

It is the intent of the Legislature to stress that the primary duty of a law enforcement officer when responding to a domestic violence call is to enforce the laws allegedly violated and to protect the victim. Further, it is the responsibility of the courts to protect the victims of violence that occurs in a family or family-like setting by providing access to both emergent and long-term civil and criminal remedies and sanctions, and by ordering those remedies and sanctions that are available to assure the safety of the victims and the public. To that end, the Legislature ... encourages the broad application of the remedies available under this act in the civil and criminal courts.

[ N.J.S.A. 2C:25-18.]

Consistent with that general legislative intent, the Act directs that once a domestic violence complaint is filed,

a law enforcement officer who has probable cause to believe that an act of domestic violence has been committed may:

....

upon observing or learning that a weapon is present on the premises, seize any weapon that the officer reasonably believes would expose the victim to a risk of serious bodily injury.

[N.J.S.A. 2C:25-21d(1)(b).]

A gap, however,...