Suazo v. Diletto, 2010 WL 4880700 (App. Div. Dec. 1, 2010). In this case, after receiving a copy of the appellant’s brief and appendix, including the transcript of the proceedings in the Chancery Division from which the appeal was taken, Judge Harriet Klein wrote to the Appellate Division to advise that she had previously learned that much of the transcript was indiscernible, that she had offered to vacate the order being appealed from and to hold a testimonial hearing, which was the relief being sought on the appeal. Judge Klein observed that the appellant had not responded to that offer, which she took as a rejection.
The Appellate Division complimented Judge Klein on her “prompt and proactive action,” and criticized the appellant’s counsel for not accepting Judge Klein’s “generous offer … instead of investing the time and incurring the expense to pursue his appeal in which he sought” the same relief that Judge Klein had offered. The court reversed and remanded for a plenary hearing as Judge Klein had suggested.