Camden County must pay legal costs for corrections officer who won appeal, court says
CAMDEN – A state appeals court says Camden County must pay $278,320 to cover legal expenses for Corrections Officer Patrick Cornely, who successfully appealed several suspensions at a trial two years ago in Superior Court.
On Friday, a Camden County spokesman said there is no plan to further appeal the issue of attorney costs. The appellate decision was issued July 7.
Cornely, now a sergeant, personally came out of the trial with a $75,000 award for emotional distress as well as back pay for two of his three suspensions.
“The jury focused on this case and ignored the defense’s distractions,” his attorney, Matthew R. Curran, commented on Friday. “Patrick is forever grateful that this jury righted his wrongs.”
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The Superior Court trial lasted 12 days, with jurors finding that two suspensions had violated Corley’s civil rights. Jurors were unable to reach a decision about the third suspension.
The Department of Corrections as well as its director, David Owens, were defendants in the case.
The county, in its appeal, protested that Curran should be compensated for fewer hours of work and at a much lower hourly rate. Cornely, in a cross appeal on the same issue, argued for increasing the judgment.
The appellate decision concluded the estimate of Curran’s workload and fee are reasonable, partly due to the administrative law proceedings that came before the Superior Court trial.
The attorney cost numbers were arrived at in July 2020 after four days of hearings, with the judge saying he was relying on his “own visceral sense as to what is fair.”
“Given the jury’s verdict that the County violated Cornely’s civil rights, we discern no reason to disturb the judge’s ruling,” the appellate decision adds.
Cornely is a former trustee and president of Police Benevolent Association Local 351. One suspension was levied while he was a trustee and a second while he was president.
Curran said an agreement was reached with the county earlier this year that resolved the third suspension dispute.
“Although the county did not admit liability for this conduct, the discipline imposed against Cornely was voided and he was financially made whole,” he said.
Cornely was promoted to sergeant in May 2021 thanks to now having a clean disciplinary record, his attorney said.
This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Camden County loses effort to reduce court-ordered payment to attorney
