ESTATE OF DAVID ERIC YEARBY, ET AL. VS. MIDDLESEX COUNTY,
ET AL.
A-2477-16T2
An alleged mentally ill man died strapped to a "restraint chair" in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility, approximately twenty-four hours after he was arrested for assault and resisting arrest. Decedent's estate filed a multi-count civil suit against a number of public entities and their employees, including three nurses employed by the Correctional Facility. The trial court granted the nurses' unopposed motion to dismiss with prejudice the counts in the complaint alleging professional malpractice based on plaintiffs' failure to file a timely Affidavit of Merit (AOM). Represented by different counsel, plaintiffs argued they were entitled to serve the AOM 107 days after the expiration of the maximum statutory period based on the equitable doctrine of substantial compliance and "extraordinary circumstances." The court agreed and vacated the dismissal with prejudice.
