L.S.T. VS. C v. (FV-000552-15, MORRIS COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(RECORD IMPOUNDED), A-2583-15T4

Background

Plaintiff and defendant, Indian nationals married in 2007, lived in New Jersey with one child; both worked full-time in IT.
Plaintiff alleged years of verbal and physical abuse by defendant, including multiple incidents after drinking; she moved out on January 4, 2016.
On January 10, 2016, plaintiff and defendant disputed custody access to their four‑year‑old son; plaintiff alleges defendant slapped and pushed her, then struck the child with his leg.
Plaintiff called police; she and defendant gave written statements; no medical treatment was sought. A temporary restraining order followed and an amended complaint added harassment as a predicate offense.
At the bench trial the judge found plaintiff credible and defendant not credible, concluded simple assault was not proven but harassment (offensive touching with purpose to harass) was proven, and issued a final restraining order including temporary custody to plaintiff.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial judge's credibility findings and factual conclusions were supported by the record	Plaintiff maintained her testimony and prior incident history were credible and supported relief	Defendant argued the judge’s credibility findings and factual conclusions lacked record support and were insufficiently analyzed	Court deferred to trial judge; findings supported by substantial credible evidence and observation of demeanor
Whether defendant had purpose to harass (element for harassment)	Purpose to harass can be inferred from circumstances and the offensive touching plaintiff described	Defendant contended purpose to harass was not proven	Court held purpose reasonably inferred from totality of circumstances and plaintiff’s credible testimony
Whether a final restraining order was necessary under the second prong (N.J.S.A. 2C:25-29a factors)	Plaintiff argued history of abuse and controlling behavior made order necessary to protect her and child	Defendant argued judge failed to expressly state findings tied to statutory factors (Silver) so order must be vacated	Court found record shows extensive pattern of abuse; implicit statutory-factor finding was harmless and order affirmed
Whether judge was required to address every conflicting piece of evidence in statement of reasons	Plaintiff relied on judge’s credibility assessment and overall reasoning	Defendant argued judge omitted analysis of certain favorable testimony/conflicts	Court held judge need not address every item; reasons were ample and flowing from credibility determinations

Key Cases Cited

Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co., 65 N.J. 474 (binding standard for appellate review of trial court findings) (trial findings upheld when supported by substantial credible evidence)
Cesare v. Cesare, 154 N.J. 394 (family court deference and characteristics of domestic violence patterns) (family judges have special expertise; pattern of controlling behavior is classic domestic violence)
Weiss v. I. Zapinsky, Inc., 65 N.J. Super. 351 (App. Div. 1961) (deference to trial judge’s credibility assessments based on demeanor)
Silver v. Silver, 387 N.J. Super. 112 (App. Div. 2006) (trial court should make findings on statutory factors when issuance of restraining order is unclear)
Bittner v. Harleysville Ins. Co., 338 N.J. Super. 447 (App. Div. 2001) (predicate offense alone insufficient; second-prong analysis required)
N.B. v. T. B., 297 N.J. Super. 35 (App. Div. 1997) (consideration of history and threats in evaluating need for restraining order)