S. Ct. Civ. No. 2016-0061

In appeal from a small claims action, the findings of fact support the judgment of the Magistrate Division of the Superior Court in holding the defendant liable to plaintiff in the amount of $10,000 plus court costs, and the Appellate Division correctly affirmed that judgment, based on the finding of an oral contract between the parties, later reduced to writing. The Appellate Division demonstrated in its memorandum opinion that it reviewed the record critically and applied the appropriate standards of review. It's lack of explanation as to why the defendant's evidence was not credible or carried little weight was not an error - because it was not the obligation of the Appellate Division to do so. The Appellate Division's obligation was to consider the evidence and affirm the judgment of the Magistrate Division unless that ruling was devoid of minimum evidentiary support displaying some hue of credibility or had no rational relationship to the supportive evidence. Nor did the Appellate Division err in holding that defendant waived his claim of forgery, since the evidence was too insubstantial to support an assertion that a signature was forged. The Magistrate Division did not err when it determined that the defendant had failed to prove his counterclaim for conversion by a preponderance of the evidence, and - given the passage of time and the lack of other evidence indicating the items were missing due to some action or inaction by the plaintiff - defendant's assertion that she took his property is pure speculation. The September 8, 2015 judgment of the Appellate Division is affirmed.