State v. OJO Trucking Corp.

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court – Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: Before Judges MORTON I. GREENBERG
• Citation: 525 A.2d 1125,217 N.J.Super. 307
• Decision Date: 01 June 1987
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. OJO TRUCKING CORPORATION and Yardville Supply Company, Defendants-Respondents. STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CHURCHDALE LEASING and A.C. Enterprises, Defendants-Appellants.

Page 307

217 N.J.Super. 307 525 A.2d 1125 STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
OJO TRUCKING CORPORATION and Yardville Supply Company,
Defendants-Respondents.
STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
CHURCHDALE LEASING and A.C. Enterprises, Defendants-Appellants. Superior Court of New Jersey,
Appellate Division. Argued May 4, 1987.
Decided May 18, 1987.
Released for Publication June 1, 1987.

Page 308

Stephen H. Monson, Deputy Atty. Gen., Trenton, for appellant in A-4512-85T4 and for respondent in A-4855-85T4 and A-4869-85T4 (W. Cary Edwards, Atty. Gen., attorney; Stephen H. Monson, on the brief).

[525 A.2d 1126]

Page 309

Thaddeus C. Raczkowski, Kendall Park, for appellants in A-4855-85T4 and A-4869-85T4 (Gruber & Raczkowski, attorneys; Thaddeus Raczkowski, on the brief).

Louis J. DeMille, Jr., Trenton, for respondents in A-4512-85T4 (Charles J. Casale, Jr., on the brief).

Page 308

Before Judges MORTON I. GREENBERG, J.H. COLEMAN and R.S. COHEN.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

MORTON I. GREENBERG, P.J.A.D.

These matters come on before this court on three separate appeals from the Law Division involving application of the motor vehicle law in cases in which trucks were operated with weights in excess of those authorized by their registrations. By our order of September 24, 1986, we consolidated the appeals in A-4855-85T4 and A-4869-85T4 for all purposes. We now consolidate A-4512-85T4 with the other appeals for disposition in this opinion.

The appeal in A-4512-85T4 involves defendants OJO Trucking Corporation and Yardville Supply Company which were issued three summonses charging violations of N.J.S.A. 39:3-20. OJO and Yardville were convicted in the Cranbury Township Municipal Court but appealed to the Superior Court, Law Division. In that court the judge conducted a trial de novo on the record and decided the case in a letter opinion on March 27, 1986 ordering dismissal of the complaints. The State has appealed from that dismissal. ¹

The facts in the OJO-Yardville cases are not in dispute. On October 8, 1984, a fully loaded concrete truck registered to Yardville was stopped by state troopers. It had a gross vehicle weight of 75,700 pounds, which was 5,700 pounds over the weight of 70,000 pounds as authorized by its registration. On January 3, 1985, two dump trucks registered to OJO were

Page 310

stopped by state troopers. The trucks had gross vehicle weights of 73,840 and 73,640 pounds, which were respectively 3,840 and 3,640 pounds over the weights of 70,000 pounds authorized for the trucks. Consequently, complaints were filed for the three offenses under N.J.S.A. 39:3-20.

In the municipal court hearing it was stipulated that the three trucks were registered as "constructor" vehicles, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:3-20(b), and were registered for 70,000 pounds, the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight for such vehicles. Further, OJO and Yardville did not dispute the accuracy of the weights recorded by the troopers.

The appeals in A-4855-85T4 and A-4869-85T4 involved defendants Churchdale Leasing and A.C. Enterprises which, from June 12 through November 15, 1985, were issued 60 summonses by state troopers for registration certificate and excess weight violations for tractor-trailer combinations used to haul solid waste. Seventeen cases were prosecuted in the Pennsauken Township Municipal Court. Eight of these complaints charged violations of N.J.S.A. 39:3-20, the registration statute, as the gross weights exceeded the 80,000 pound weights allowed by the registrations for the...