TERESA B. DZIADUL v. DIANE DERISI-MILLER

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-2342-05T32342-05T3

TERESA B. DZIADUL,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

DIANE DERISI-MILLER,

Defendant-Respondent.

________________________________________________________________

 

Submitted December 6, 2006 - Decided March 2, 2007

Before Judges Parker and Messano.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, Docket No. BER-SC-3546-05.

Teresa B. Dziadul, appellant pro se.

Skrod & Baumann, attorneys for respondent (Kevin J. Savage, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

In this Special Civil Part case plaintiff Teresa B. Dziadul appeals from an order entered on November 16, 2005 awarding her $802.95, plus court costs of $21. We affirm.

Plaintiff and defendant were involved in an automobile accident on November 22, 2002. Plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to stop at a stop sign and caused damage to plaintiff's 1990 Geo Prism amounting to $2,265. Trial was scheduled for September 15, 2005. On that date, defendant failed to appear and the trial judge entered a default in favor of plaintiff.

Defendant moved to vacate the default and restore the case to the trial list because she went to the wrong courthouse on the trial date. The complaint had originally been filed in Monmouth County and was transferred to Bergen County, but defendant had not been notified of the transfer. Defendant's motion was granted in an order entered on October 21, 2005 over plaintiff's opposition.

On November 16, 2005, both parties appeared for trial at the Bergen County Courthouse. After hearing testimony from both parties and a representative of defendant's auto insurer, Liberty Mutual, the trial judge found defendant seventy-five percent liable and plaintiff twenty-five percent responsible for her comparative negligence. The judge found the Liberty Mutual representative credible with respect to her assessment of damages, that plaintiff failed to present evidence as to the "Blue Book" value of the 1990 Geo Prism and provided no other evidence with respect to damages. Accordingly, the judge accepted the Liberty Mutual representative's damage estimate of $1,070.60 and discounted it twenty-five percent for plaintiff's comparative negligence. Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $802.05, plus costs.

In this appeal, plaintiff argues that she should have been awarded the full amount of her cost to repair the car.

Our scope of review is limited to a determination of whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the findings of the trial judge. Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of Am., 65 N.J. 474, 483-84 (1974). We have carefully considered the record in light of plaintiff's arguments and we are satisfied that the record does, indeed, support the judge's findings. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(A) and (E).

Affirmed.

 

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A-2342-05T3

March 2, 2007