When you hear someone is charged with murder, you likely think there was a physical weapon involved. Was it a gun? A knife? Something unique? What about a drug laced kiss that caused the death! This just happened to a Tennessee woman.

A 33 year old woman visiting an inmate at the Turney Center Industrial Complex jail in Tennessee hid a balloon in her mouth that contained a half ounce of a drug called speed. While meeting with an inmate, she passed it to the man through a kiss. Unfortunately, the inmate overdosed and died as a result of the drugs. Now, the woman was arrested and charged with second degree murder in addition to bringing the drugs into the jail.

For the majority of people in New Jersey, your auto insurance carrier is the primary payor of your medical bills after an accident. However, some people choose to have their health insurance primary. In either situation, you could end up with unpaid bills, copays, or deductibles that you need to pay. Often, this is because your benefits exhausted and you have no one else to pay the bills while your case is pending. It could also be because the procedure or treatment was denied by the insurance carrier and no one submitted an appeal.

Medical providers sometimes seem heartless to your situation when they are attempting to collect what is owed. Often, the provider resorts to a collection company that has the debt owed associated with your credit report. Previously, a collection company  could have the debt listed on your credit report after 6 months. However, as of July 1, 2022, the law has changed. collection companies now need to wait 1 year before having the unpaid medical debt appear on your credit report. 

The new law takes into account that medical bills can spiral very quickly for someone who is sick. The increase to one year provides individuals more time to pay off the debt before it begins to impact their credit score.

As with any debt someone claims you owe, it is important to examine what is claimed. Was it processed through the insurance carrier? Is there an explanation of benefit showing what was paid and what was not? Was there an appeal process that could have been done by the medical provider to have the insurance pay more? All of these items need to be examined when you first receive the bill. Do not wait until months have passed as this makes it harder to get anything done quickly. 

In what seems like years in the making, a new change is finally coming to New Jersey's auto insurance policies. Governor Murphy signed Bill S-481 on Friday, which increases the minimum required insurance coverage for NJ drivers beginning January 1, 2023. It increases the bodily injury coverage to $25,000 for one person in an auto accident and $50,000 combined for more than one party. These amounts will increase again in 2026 to $35,000 and $70,000. 

Additionally, Bill S-481 also increases the minimum property damage coverage to $25,000 beginning January 1, 2023.

Well, it is not exactly the auto insurance minimum coverage amounts we hoped for in a similar bill moving through our NJ Legislature, but at least this bill will provide some long needed increase. Yesterday, both houses of the Legislature passed bill A-4291/S-481 to increase the minimum coverage to $25,000 for bodily injury for one person in an accident and $50,000 for more than one person. If signed by Governor Murphy, it would go into effect on January 1, 2023 and then increase those minimum coverage amounts in the year 2026 to $35,000/$70,000.

While it may not be the steep increase we hoped for, at least someone understands that the current minimum coverage of $15,000 is no longer helping anyone. We now wait to see if Governor Murphy signs the new bill.

The other bill making its way to Governor Murphy's desk from yesterday is A-4293/S2843 which would expand the policy disclosure law in New Jersey. Last year a bill was enacted that finally required insurance companies to disclose how much insurance coverage the person that hit you had. However, it only applied in certain situations. Prior to last year's bill, one would have to file a lawsuit in order to figure out that answer. However, what frequently happened is that you filed the lawsuit, was finally told the answer and then realized the person had a minimum $15,000 policy that would not cover very much, especially the cost of experts during the course of litigation. If you knew it was a minimum policy prior to filing suit, you could use that information to push the insurance carrier to resolve it since everyone would be on the same page and the insurance carrier wouldn't be able to keep that information secret. This new bill would expand the fact scenario of when the insurance carrier must tell you the limits before litigation.

Today, in State v. David L. Smith, our New Jersey Supreme Court examined whether tint on a rear windshield justifies a investigatory stop of a motor vehicle allowing the police to perform a search. The court determined it did not.

David L. Smith was driving a vehicle around 10:20pm in Trenton, NJ with tint on his rear windshield. An officer stopped David for a tinted window violation and determined that David's movements in his vehicle were suspicious. The officer acknowledged that he was able to see that defendant was alone in the vehicle and making shoving motions; meaning the tint on the rear windshield did not prevent the officer from seeing inside the vehicle. Upon search, they found various weapons. David was charged with a window tint violation and weapon offenses.

​The matter reached the NJ Supreme Court to determine whether the State established a reasonable and articulable suspicion for the car stop. The court determined that NJSA 39:3-74 prohibits operation of a vehicle with any non-transparent material on the front windshield or front side windows. This statute does not state that it is a violation to have a back windshield tinted. Consequently, the initial stop based on a rear tinted window was not justified. Therefore, anything found during the unjustified stop can not be used against the person.

Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a decision in State v. Abayuba Rivas ruling that Rivas' confession is thrown out due to the police failing to honor his request for counsel during interrogation.

Rivas contacted the police because he said his wife was missing. The police took several statements from Rivas before showing him video contradicting his statements. Rivas then changed his statement and was incarcerated for incriminating himself on another crime and providing false information to the police. While in jail, Rivas attempted suicide and was transferred to a hospital. While in the hospital, the police continued to question Rivas. The police read Rivas his Miranda rights and continued to question him. Rivas' story again changed. The police came back the next day and began a 6 hour question and answer session. During this time, the detective had Rivas read his Miranda rights. While doing so, Rivas made various statements about needing to find a lawyer and determine how much one would cost, asking if he needed an attorney, and then later that he does want a lawyer. The police continued to question him. Rivas ended up confessing to killing his wife. 

The trial court determined that Rivas' various statements about a lawyer were unclear and ambiguous. However, the trial court determined some of the interrogation could stand and other parts suppressed.

An appeal and eventual submission to the NJ Supreme Court was made. The NJ Supreme Court ruled today that once Rivas invoked his right to counsel, even though it may be considered ambiguous, the detectives were required to clarify the ambiguity or cease questioning. The detectives did neither and instead, continued to interrogate Rivas for almost 6 hours before eliciting a confession. Rivas statements and continued conversations after confessing could not be characterized as voluntarily initiated by Rivas since the questioning by police never truly ceased. Consequently, the court ruled that the statements need to be suppressed.

Under our state law privilege against self-incrimination, a suspect does not need to be articulate, clear or explicit in requesting counsel. Any indication of a desire for counsel will trigger an entitlement to counsel under our constitution. If the police are unsure of your request, they have a duty to clarify before continuing to question the suspect. If the police fail to follow Miranda, a confession can be suppressed as it was here. 

Yesterday, the New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee released a few auto insurance bills that just need to get passed. Of those included in the package, the following two are important to almost anyone that drives in New Jersey.

1. S481 would raise the automobile insurance coverage minimums that are currently in place to a minimum coverage of $50,000. Did you know that currently, the minimum amount of insurance someone needs to purchase is $15,000! Imagine in this day and age of prices constantly rising that you are hit and injured and it turns out the other driver can only offer $15,000 towards compensating you for your injuries. By the time you pay your expert for an opinion, etc. there is not much left. An increase on the state minimum coverage is long overdue and we hope it passes this time.

2. S467 would create a new exception for the limitation on lawsuit selection for those involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver or reckless driver. As it stands now, if you selected a limitation on lawsuit option on your policy and a drunk driver hits you, you need to jump through hurdles to prove your injury meets a certain level before you can collect anything for your pain and suffering. It's one thing if someone made a misjudgment and caused an accident. It is another thing if that person purposely drove drunk and caused an accident. This is another good bill we hope gets passed.

New Jersey has several different diversionary programs available to defendants if the facts of the case meet the program requirements. Two of the programs are offered in Municipal Court, and the third program is offered at the Superior Court. Some like to call this the "get out of jail free card"; meaning if this is your first offense, you can enter one of these programs and at completion, your charge will be dismissed. The hope is that everyone makes a mistake and you will now know better and not make the same mistake.

The conditional discharge program in municipal court was quite popular back in the day prior to marijuana becoming legal in New Jersey. A defendant charged with possession of marijuana would enter the program for a year, and if the defendant stayed out of trouble, the marijuana possession charge would be dismissed at the end. 

However, when marijuana became legal, the question arose as to what happens to all the defendants who used their one "get out of jail free card" on the marijuana charge? Do they now get a new freebie? Or did that count since technically, marijuana was not legal back when the defendant entered the program.

Today, our Supreme Court in New Jersey answered that question. In State v. Gomes, the panel of judges ruled that a person who previously received the benefit of a conditional discharge for a marijuana case in municipal court is not eligible in the future to enter a PTI diversionary program in Superior Court, even if the prior matter was expunged. The logic of the ruling is based on the fact that the program is to be used once. When the defendant used the program in the past for the marijuana charge, that counted as the defendant's one time use and he benefited from the program by having that charged dismissed.

You often hear someone state they have something on their "bucket list" that they hope to do before they die. Most times it involves traveling to a far off place. Maybe something daring and exciting that most are not brave enough to do. The one item you rarely hear is that they want to be arrested!

I read an article recently that a 19 year old woman in Florida was arrested for fleeing the police after being stopped for a speeding ticket. While no one enjoys a speeding ticket, most just stay put and suck it up and wait for the ticket from the officer. Well, this woman decided she was not going to stop when those police car lights began flashing. Instead, she fled and continued driving with the officer trailing behind with lights flashing. When she did finally stop, she admitted that "being collared" or hand cuffed was on her bucket list since high school. It did not sound like the officer was amused.

So my question is would you have being arrested, or never being arrested on your bucket list?

Have you ever wondered how the effects of a DUI plea trickle down into your life? Most people understand that if you are found guilty of a DUI, you may lose your license for a period of time. Maybe some also consider that hiring an attorney can cost a lot of money for something this serious. But what happens after you are found guilty. Are there any effects on your everyday life? Or do you just continue on living life without a driver's license for a while and that is it?

The consequences of a DUI extend much further than this. It seeps into your everyday life for a while. It affects your family and your ability to move around freely. It can even affect your livelihood. For example, imagine you have a CDL license and drive a truck for a living. You make a good salary to support your family. However, once you have a DUI on your record, it becomes a liability for an employer to have a CDL driver with a recent DUI. This means that the way you have earned a living needs to change. But what if you do not have other skills to easily obtain a new job. Future employers will also want to know about your driving record, especially if the position entails you driving a company vehicle. This can limit your ability to obtain a new job, especially once you are able to restore your driver's license or CDL.

In New Jersey, you likely have the opportunity to install an interlock device on your vehicle in order to drive for a period of time after you are found guilty of a DUI. However, this means that you can only drive that vehicle. This means that periodically, as you are driving, you need to blow into a machine connected to your steering wheel. Maybe you were in charge of driving your kids and the neighbors kids to school. Can you imagine explaining this to the neighbor or having the children see this. 

While many things in life have an actual financial impact that cause you to outlay money up front, there are always indirect consequences to consider. We all enjoy a drink with friends when we are out. However, one of our most important responsibilities is knowing when to stop drinking. Understanding that we need to get home in some manner and knowing when we need to admit that it is not safe to drive.