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I have a case before the NJ supreme Court on leaving the scene asking original and unique questions such as:
Is N.J.S. 39:4-129 a defacto detention statute for the pleasure of the police?
Is exposure to poison ivy a medical necessity?
Is the driver's license exhibition in person a requirement under the statute?
And some other issues of Constitutional magnitude.
The AG also has 5 cases before the court asking similar questions.
Historically the NJ supreme court has held that N.J.S. 39:4-129 is an identification statute that exists so that people who have been harmed or have property damaged will not go uncompensated but the state prosecutors and police have attempted to re-cast it as a statute for the purposes of facilitating a police investigation.
It is my position that the Court is correct and the police are wrong .
This position is not shared among all NJ judges. Sappm and Perillo-Peterson at app div and and Mahon at law div seem to believe it's a defacto detention statute placing you under police custody - even when they are not there in order to further police investigations. I say this is madness and will not stand constitutional scrutiny.
Until the high court clears this matter up there are some thing you may want to know is you are involved in an accident especially a one car accident in NJ.
Identify yourself fully to any persons present or persons harmed or whose property is damaged and make a physical exhibition of your Driver's License. If there are injuries you must see to the welfare of any injured people. Then and only then should you leave.
If here is no one present leave your identification information on whatever property you damage.
If there is no damage other than to the car you are driving (the courts are in turmoil here) you have a Hobson's choice:
1.) Leave and call it in.
2.) leave call it in & return when they instruct you to. I say this is horse shit and it is a wrong reading of the law . After all if you are calling it in you are fully identifying.
3.) Leave and call it in and refuse to return when they ask. That is what I say you should do but some of NJ's inferior courts disagree.
What if your car is wrecked and you can only walk away and no other damage occurred?
DO NOT LEAVE A CELL PHONE AT THE SCENE~!!
Tape your ID all of it to the inside of the Driver's window (or shove it in the gasket to make it stay put) so it can be read from outside and lock the door. Then leave and call it in. If you have had anything to drink get in a house (a home not a restaurant or bar) call it in from there and when the police arrives to interrogate you do not step out of the house. This forces the cop to speak to you through the door and screen or glass is great even holding the door open a crack is great. Stand a bit back from the door and do not step out. He has to get a warrant to arrest you and he can't get one for that. The cop will demand that you step out. DON'T DO IT~!! He is going to arrest you and breathalyze you and charge you with a DWI ~!! If you are not driving when he sees you he can't properly cite you for a refusal either.
Have a witness who will observe exactly what you say and that you maintained a distance of oh say three or more feet from the door - measure it~!!
When the cop asks what caused the accident uses these words and say nothing more - nothing: "The vehicle failed to negotiate a turn." You say that or you simply say that you'd prefer to have an attorney present during any questioning. That'll shut his ass up.
Don't tell him that you failed, that you anything, the vehicle failed not you and don't speculate about why. The idea is to force the cop to go figure out how to do his own job not to get you to do it for him. He should go conduct a forensic analysis of the scene - don't tell him to, just don't give him any information. Say nothing. You already fully identified when you called 911.
Is N.J.S. 39:4-129 a defacto detention statute for the pleasure of the police?
Is exposure to poison ivy a medical necessity?
Is the driver's license exhibition in person a requirement under the statute?
And some other issues of Constitutional magnitude.
The AG also has 5 cases before the court asking similar questions.
Historically the NJ supreme court has held that N.J.S. 39:4-129 is an identification statute that exists so that people who have been harmed or have property damaged will not go uncompensated but the state prosecutors and police have attempted to re-cast it as a statute for the purposes of facilitating a police investigation.
It is my position that the Court is correct and the police are wrong .
This position is not shared among all NJ judges. Sappm and Perillo-Peterson at app div and and Mahon at law div seem to believe it's a defacto detention statute placing you under police custody - even when they are not there in order to further police investigations. I say this is madness and will not stand constitutional scrutiny.
Until the high court clears this matter up there are some thing you may want to know is you are involved in an accident especially a one car accident in NJ.
Identify yourself fully to any persons present or persons harmed or whose property is damaged and make a physical exhibition of your Driver's License. If there are injuries you must see to the welfare of any injured people. Then and only then should you leave.
If here is no one present leave your identification information on whatever property you damage.
If there is no damage other than to the car you are driving (the courts are in turmoil here) you have a Hobson's choice:
1.) Leave and call it in.
2.) leave call it in & return when they instruct you to. I say this is horse shit and it is a wrong reading of the law . After all if you are calling it in you are fully identifying.
3.) Leave and call it in and refuse to return when they ask. That is what I say you should do but some of NJ's inferior courts disagree.
What if your car is wrecked and you can only walk away and no other damage occurred?
DO NOT LEAVE A CELL PHONE AT THE SCENE~!!
Tape your ID all of it to the inside of the Driver's window (or shove it in the gasket to make it stay put) so it can be read from outside and lock the door. Then leave and call it in. If you have had anything to drink get in a house (a home not a restaurant or bar) call it in from there and when the police arrives to interrogate you do not step out of the house. This forces the cop to speak to you through the door and screen or glass is great even holding the door open a crack is great. Stand a bit back from the door and do not step out. He has to get a warrant to arrest you and he can't get one for that. The cop will demand that you step out. DON'T DO IT~!! He is going to arrest you and breathalyze you and charge you with a DWI ~!! If you are not driving when he sees you he can't properly cite you for a refusal either.
Have a witness who will observe exactly what you say and that you maintained a distance of oh say three or more feet from the door - measure it~!!
When the cop asks what caused the accident uses these words and say nothing more - nothing: "The vehicle failed to negotiate a turn." You say that or you simply say that you'd prefer to have an attorney present during any questioning. That'll shut his ass up.
Don't tell him that you failed, that you anything, the vehicle failed not you and don't speculate about why. The idea is to force the cop to go figure out how to do his own job not to get you to do it for him. He should go conduct a forensic analysis of the scene - don't tell him to, just don't give him any information. Say nothing. You already fully identified when you called 911.
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