Judge cuts $453K from $1.5M jury award to 'whistle-blowing' Morristown police officer

MORRISTOWN — A judge has reduced a civil jury's punitive damage award to "whistle-blower" Morristown Police Officer Keith Hudson from $1.5 million to slightly more than $1 million.

Superior Court Judge Louis Sceusi in a written decision upheld the Morris County jury's verdict in May that Hudson was retaliated against by being thrown out of the detective bureau on Aug. 1, 2015, by Police Chief Peter Demnitz.

But Sceusi, who was required by state and case law to analyze the fairness of the punitive damages award because a public entity — Morristown — bears the cost, reduced that portion to $1,047,155.

The new sum is five times the $209,431 the jury awarded Hudson in compensatory damages rather than the jury's punitive damage award that was seven times the compensatory award. The judge found punitive damages were appropriate but adjusted the amount to align with case law that says five times a compensatory award is "the normative measure of the limits of proportion."

Read more: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/16/judge-cuts-453-k-jury-award-whistle-blower-morristown-cop/1006121002/