01-22-08 A-3453-06T5
Petitioner appeals from the order of the Law Division
vacating a previously entered judgment of expungement. Before
filing the expungement application, petitioner sent a TCA tort
claims notice to the State regarding the subject matter of the
expungement. After the expungement was granted, petitioner
commenced a civil suit against the State.
We rejected the State's argument that petitioner's filing
of a TCA tort claims notice constituted the commencement of
"civil litigation" against a public entity, triggering the
statutory bar against the granting of an expungement petition
contained in N.J.S.A. 2C:52-14(d). We also found no statutory
support for the State's argument that enforcement of the
expungement judgment deprives the State of information needed to
defend itself against plaintiff's allegations of wrongdoings.
