Butler v. Acme Markets, Inc.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

The central question in this appeal is the extent of a store owner’s duty to protect its customers against the criminal acts of third persons. The trial court set aside a jury verdict of damages, holding that there was no such duty. The Appellate Division reversed. 177 N.J.Super. 279 (1981). We granted defendant’s petition for certification, 87 N.J. 414 (1981), and we now affirm.

I

On the evening of November 11,1977, plaintiff Helen Butler, then in her early sixties, went out to shop for food at an Acme store located in Montclair. Having parked…