Ken Vercammen's NJ Laws email newsletter May 16, 2003 #126 In this issue: 1. Friday May 24 Belmar Night 2. Personal Injury cases: Injury Must Meet Serious Impact Test 3 Reversal of conviction required based upon prosecutorial misconduct. 4. Improper Statements By Judge Require Recusal and reversal. 5. Law Office- Legal Secretary P/T ________ 1. Friday May 24 Belmar Night Join Ken V and the former Belmar volleyball players for Legends Night. This is the Opening night of Belmar Bars. We start at D' Jays Ocean Ave, Belmar at approx 6pm to avoid the lines. Free food. The next morning we get up at 7am and run the Spring Lake 5 mile charity race. Call for details 2. Personal Injury cases: Injury Must Meet Serious Impact Test to permit suit under Lawsuit / Verbal threshold law . James v. Torres. ___ NJ Super. ___ A-5581-OOT5 (App. Div.) The amended verbal-threshold statute, N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8 in the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act, incorporates the limitations and the approach adopted in Oswin v. Shaw prior to the statute's amendment, and a plaintiff must demonstrate that the injuries she received in the accident have had a serious impact on her life in order to have her case submitted to the jury -- to the extent that Compere v. Collins holds otherwise, it is disapproved; the trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's action for injuries allegedly sustained in an auto accident is affirmed, since she failed to establish that her injuries have had a serious impact on her life. Source: 170 N.J.L.J. 541 Municipal Court cases 3 Reversal of conviction required based upon prosecutorial misconduct. State v. Negron 355 NJ Super. 556 (App. Div. 2002). The primary duty of a prosecutor is not to obtain convictions, but to see that justice is done. State v. Ramseur, 106 N.J. 123, 320 (1987), "It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one." Berger v. United States, 55 S. Ct. 629, 633, (1935). Source: 170 N.J.L.J. 1076 4. Improper Statements By Judge Require Recusal and reversal. State v. Perez 356 NJ Super. 527 (App. Div. 2003). When a municipal court judge errs in denying defendant's recusal motion based on the appearance of group bias, the Law Division, on appeal, should grant defendant's request for a full plenary trial, instead of a trial de novo on the record, or should remand for trial before another municipal court judge. 5. LAW OFFICE- Legal Secretary P/T Growing law firm needs additional Legal Secretary for Personal Injury and Wills. Monday-Friday 9am-2:30 pm $14.00 hr. Must have 3 years prior NJ Law office experience. Call Kenneth Vercammen, Esq. 732-906-2180 for appointment. ________________________ God Bless our Military and their Families. United we stand, Divided we fall Thank you for reading our newsletter! God Bless America USA #1 Kenneth Vercammen (Phone) 732-906-2180 (Fax) 732-906-2155 website: www.njlaws.com Editor's Note and Disclaimer: All materials Copyright 2003. You may pass along the information on the NJ Laws Newsletter and website, provided the name and address of the Law Office is included. Always schedule an office appointment with an experienced attorney when you have a legal matter. The Rules of Court limit an attorney's ability to discuss matters over the phone. If you have legal questions, you should schedule an in- office consultation. REMOVALS TO BE DONE BY WEBMASTER LONEKEEP.COM To remove, just email back & type in subject or body remove. Removals are performed by the webmaster once per month.