NIELSA COTTO et al. v. EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ

Annotate this Case

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-6638-03T56638-03T5

NIELSA COTTO and ANA NUNEZ,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.

EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ,

Defendant-Respondent.

__________________________________

 

Argued September 28, 2005 - Decided

Before Judges Fall and Levy.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County, Docket No. L-8486-02.

John C. Sinuk argued the cause for appellants.

Amanda M. Dowd argued the cause for respondent (Sherman & Viscomi, attorneys; Ms. Dowd, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

This is an appeal of the June 11, 2004 grant of summary judgment, dismissing co-plaintiffs' complaint for noneconomic damages as a result of an automobile accident. The dismissal, as well as a denial, on July 23, 2004, of a motion for reconsideration, were based on findings that neither plaintiff, although subject to the verbal threshold under the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act (AICRA), N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8(a), had established a serious life impact caused by injuries suffered in the accident, the second prong of the then-applicable verbal threshold test under AICRA, as interpreted by Oswin v. Shaw, 129 N.J. 290 (1992).

Subsequent to the court's rulings in this matter, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided DiProspero v. Penn, 183 N.J. 477 (2005), holding, at 481-82, that "an automobile accident victim who is subject to the threshold and sues for noneconomic damages has to satisfy only one of AICRA's six threshold categories and does not have the additional requirement of proving a serious life impact." Therefore, the rulings of the trial court must be set aside.

 
Reversed and remanded.

(continued)

(continued)

2

A-6638-03T5

October 5, 2005

 


Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.