A Morris County Family Division judge denied a man his right to a fair hearing and inappropriately cut off his
explanations before issuing a final domestic violence restraining order against the man who was accused of
threatening to post intimate videos of his ex-girlfriend on the Internet, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The appellate panel, ruling in a Morris County case captioned C.H. vs. J.S., reversed a final restraining order
issued on July 9, 2014 by Superior Court Judge Philip J. Maenza and ordered that a new hearing be
conducted by another judge.
"Not only was the evidence of record insufficient to support the trial judge's conclusions, but also the
procedures employed at trial deprived defendant of fundamental due process," the appeals court said in its written decision. 
According to the decision. C.H. and J.S. began dating in June 2012 and ended their relationship in October 2013. They resumed their relationship
before breaking up for good in June 2014. The man allegedly sent the woman a series of "six or seven ranting text messages" that called her names
and suggested he would post private videos of the woman on the Internet, the decision said.
The parties were identified only by their initials in the ruling, which also did not state their hometowns.
At the hearing before Maenza, neither the man nor woman was represented by an attorney. The woman generally testified her ex-beau had previously
threatened Internet postings of her and she "wanted to put a stop to it" so she contacted police.
At trial, Maenza asked: "How did this incident about the video affect you?" and "Are you concerned?" The woman responded that she was concerned
because "once something goes on the Internet it doesn't come off the Internet." 
