Newark, NJ – The Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Social Justice recently assisted with obtaining a $700,000 settlement from the City of Trenton for the minor daughter of a woman killed by her ex-boyfriend after city police returned her to the scene where he previously had raped her.

The mother, Natalie Williams, was killed by her former boyfriend on December 7, 2000, a day after he had raped her at knifepoint in her public-housing apartment in Trenton. Named as defendants in the case were the City of Trenton and a number of individual police officers. Among other things, the plaintiffs alleged that the police had failed to respond to Williams’ call for several hours, joked about rape in housing projects, and – in the middle of their investigation – left Williams at home alone, a sitting duck for a further attack.

The Center for Social Justice joined attorney Gerald Stockman, who had been litigating the matter for five years, and wrote a brief opposing a summary judgment motion filed by the defendants. Professor Linda Fisher, Clinical Fellow Jenny-Brooke Condon, and third-year Seton Hall Law students Kathy Kim, Kristine Russo and Paul Werner worked on the brief. In addition, attorney Theresa Lyons of the law firm Heer, Lyons submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women. A couple of weeks after the briefs were filed, the defendants agreed to a settlement.

Court documents state that when the police first began their investigation of the rape, they ignored Williams’ request for a restraining order and also failed to locate and arrest the offender. They returned Williams to her apartment and left her alone despite the fact that a medical report corroborated her claims of rape. Shortly thereafter, the rapist returned to her apartment, forced his way in and killed her with two gunshots to the head in the presence of her then three-year old daughter. The plaintiffs, including Williams’ daughter, brought claims under both federal civil rights law and state tort law in federal district court in Trenton. The $700,000 settlement will eventually result in a payout of several million dollars to the daughter when she reaches adulthood.
 

The only private law school in New Jersey, Seton Hall University School of Law was founded in 1951, and is located in the city of Newark. Seton Hall Law School offers both day and evening programs leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master of Science in Jurisprudence (M.S.J.) degrees. For more information on Seton Hall Law School, visit law.shu.edu.