Personal Injury Law Journal

Stephen M. Di Stefano

sdistefano@stark-stark.com
856.874.4443

Stephen M. Di Stefano is an Associate and member of Stark & Stark’s Accident & Personal Injury Group. Prior to joining Stark & Stark Mr. Di Stefano served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable James E. Rafferty, Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division for Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem Counties. During the time of his clerkship, Mr. Di Stefano reviewed all submissions ranging from motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment to motions in limine and post trial motions. Mr. Di Stefano also conducted extensive research and prepared written judicial opinions, including findings of fact and conclusions of law. In addition to hearing chancery issues (including contested probate matters), the Court specializes in Mount Laurel (affordable housing) and environmental litigation.Mr. Di Stefano has also worked with several other law firms throughout the state of Virginia where he conducted discovery, argued motions in court, prepared appellate briefs for the Supreme Court of Virginia and other state and federal courts.

I recently had a personal injury case of mine proceed to a jury trial. The trial judge, like many others throughout the state and country, warned the jurors throughout the trial not to conduct their own research on the case or look up information on the parties or the lawyers involved. Based on my recollection, no specific instructions were given to the jury concerning the usage of social media during the trial. In courtrooms across the country, however, jurors’ usage of social media has become a hot topic for debate. In previous blog posts, I have discussed some of the potential problems that can arise from a juror’s use of social media during a trial. In past years, before the development of social media, jurors’ communication with the outside world during a trial was not hard to curtail. Now with the boom in popularity of various forms of social media, this has all changed.  

The New Jersey Law Journal recently covered this problem, and its possible solutions, at length.  With an estimated 845 million active users on Facebook posting 2.7 billion comments and likes daily and Twitter posting 175 million tweets a day, it is no surprise that judges have become even more concerned recently about “the incursion of social media into the courtroom and its impact on the fairness of trials.”  Judges typically have broad discretion in determining how to handle the problem when a juror is found to have used social media to discuss some aspect of the trial.   Below are some of the ways that judges have dealt with jurors who have used social media during trials.  

In many cases, a judge may remove a juror from a trial if it is determined that the juror used social media such as Facebook or Twitter to discuss the case during the actual trial. In some cases, though, a judge may allow the juror to remain on the case after a warning. Some judges have actually gone so far as to declare a mistrial whereas others have held the specific juror in contempt of court. In other cases, judges have conducted hearings to determine what information was inappropriately shared by the juror through his or her usage of social media. Judges have also been to known to confiscate phones and other electronic devices during jury deliberations and some even went so far as to take them away from jurors at the start of every trial day. A few judges have been reported to require jurors to sign pledges to refrain from using social media while serving on the jury panel. Along those lines, some other judges had jurors swear a separate oath while others required that reminders be posted in jury rooms. One of the more popular measures is to explain to jurors the reasons why social media is banned from the courtroom, followed by various instructions to jurors throughout the trial concerning the ban on social media.  

Still, perhaps the issue is being overblown. A recent survey of jurors found that of 140 jurors who participated in the survey, only 6 said they were tempted to communicate about the case through social media. All 6 respondents said that they resisted the urge to use social media in the trial due to the judge’s instructions and their duties as jurors. The survey found that judges’ cautionary instructions concerning the ban on social media in the courtroom seems to be working.  

The social media issue has played out in 2 recent trials, with opposite outcomes. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo on 137 counts of fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice despite Fumo’s claim that a juror’s tweets and Facebook postings about the case during deliberations denied him a fair trial.  The court affirmed Fumo’s conviction and found that there was no substantial prejudice to Fumo because the juror’s comments on Facebook and Twitter were vague and innocuous.

On the other hand, the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a capital conviction on December 8, 2011 because of a tweeting juror who was being “followed” by a reporter covering the case.  

And lastly, a Florida state court judge in an automobile negligence case last month sentenced a juror to 3 days in jail for contempt of court because he sent a Facebook message to the defendant.

So if you are a juror serving on a trial, be sure to listen to the judge’s instructions concerning the usage of social media.  Otherwise, as you can see, your actions can have far-reaching consequences.  What might seem to be an innocent tweet or post on Facebook can have major ramifications on the integrity of the jury trial process where life, liberty, and property could be at stake.  At best, you might be admonished by the judge and embarrassed in front of everyone else on the jury, and, at worst, you could wreck the whole trial and be sent to jail for contempt of court.           

Stephen Di Stefano is an attorney in Stark & Stark’s Marlton, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Di Stefano.

In my last blog post, I discussed some of the problems associated with jurors’ ever-increasing use of social media during trials. In a follow-up to that post, let me tell you about a jam that juror got himself into when he added a female defendant to his list of friends on Facebook.  

In this situation, Jonathan Hudson sent a Facebook friend request to Courtney Downing.  Sounds normal, right?  Well there was only one problem: Downing was a defendant in a case involving a car accident, and Hudson just happened to be a juror in the very same trial.  Downing reported the friend request to her attorney who, in turn, reported it to the judge.  The judge then dismissed Hudson from the jury immediately.  Rather than learn his lesson and cease all communications with Downing, Hudson, after being dismissed from the case, contacted Downing again on Facebook, only this time he pretended to have befriended the wrong Courtney Downing.  This resulted in Hudson’s pleading guilty to contempt charges.  A news article states that Hudson could have faced up to six months in jail, but the court sentenced him to 16 hours of community service to be determined by the court bailiff.  

In many states, judges are required to read a series of instructions to jurors before a trial begins. Texas recently took the step of adding specific language concerning misuse of social media to the instructions that judges read to potential jurors before a trial can begin.  This instruction specifically discusses the issues of Facebook and Twitter status updates with details about an ongoing trial.  As a recent news article attests quite accurately, most jury trials include many lengthy periods of monotonous down time where jurors are basically left to pass the time amongst themselves with little or no interaction with the outside world.  In order to break up their boredom, many jurors resort to Facebook and Twitter and communicate with friends and family about the cases on which they are serving.  

So, again, if you are serving as a juror in a case, obey the judge’s instructions concerning social media usage.  Don’t use the “smart” features of your smartphone during a trial!  Otherwise the judge may toss you in jail and throw away the key!

Stephen Di Stefano is an attorney in Stark & Stark’s Marlton, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Di Stefano.

Ever wonder what “Extended Medical Expense Benefits Coverage” on your personal auto insurance policy actually covers?  It is sometimes known as “med-pay.” Insurance regulations in New Jersey require auto insurers to include a minimum coverage of $1,000 and a maximum coverage of $10,000 in Extended Medical Expense Benefits Coverage on standard private passenger auto insurance policies in the state. So, in layman’s terms, each policy must offer $1,000 in that type of coverage, and that coverage can be increased up to $10,000. 

For starters, you should always pick the maximum Extended Medical Expense Benefits Coverage limit of $10,000 instead of the minimum requirement of $1,000. The difference in policy premium is negligible. But what does this coverage actually provide? If you selected $10,000 in Extended Medical Expense Benefits Coverage, this benefits extension provides up to $10,000 in medical expenses or up to $10,000 in accidental death benefits if an insured person suffers injuries or death in an accident arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of either an insured automobile or a highway vehicle which is neither owned by the insured nor available to him or any family member for regular use.

The only exclusions from the definition of “highway vehicle” when used by a named insured or relative of the named insured are:

farm tractors or other farm equipment designed for use principally off public roads, but only while such vehicles are in fact off public roads;

vehicles operated on rails or crawler treads; and

vehicles which are, at the time of the accident, located for use as a residence or premises. 

Persons who are merely passengers or permissive users of the vehicle (as opposed to the named insured or a family member on the policy insuring the vehicle) are excluded in all the foregoing cases and also if the vehicle us a motorcycle or a vehicle being used as a public or livery conveyance.

Keep in mind that Extended Medical Expense Benefits are not available in any case where other Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage applies. Extended Medical Expense Benefits cannot duplicate benefits payable under workers’ compensation or Medicare. The key benefit of Extended Medical Expense Benefits Coverage is that, in some limited situations, it can provide some coverage for medical expenses incurred as a result of a vehicular accident even where PIP would not otherwise apply.      

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or come in and meet with me here in my firm’s Marlton, New Jersey office for a free initial consultation. I will be happy to answer any of your auto insurance questions free of charge. 

Stephen Di Stefano is an attorney in Stark & Stark’s Marlton, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Di Stefano.

In New Jersey, the odds of hitting a deer with your car are 1 in 183. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates 1.5 million car accidents nationwide each year involving deer, resulting in $1 billion in damages. Furthermore, the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says that November is the peak season for crashes involving deer. Statistics indicate that collisions with deer increase in late September, peak in November and then slowly decline by February. Another increase in collisions with deer typically occurs in May and June, which is when does are often times giving birth.

As many of us know from firsthand experiences, deer are very difficult to avoid on the roadways. “Deer are most active during dawn and dusk, and this is the time of year when our major commuting hours are also at dawn and dusk,” said Lawrence Herrighty, deputy directory of New Jersey’s Division of Fish & Wildlife. He notes, “although the peak of the rut or breeding is usually a week before Thanksgiving, deer are becoming active. Male deer, particularly, will start chasing the does around, and they are not cognizant of cars as they run.”

So what happens if you are one of the many unfortunate drivers who is injured when your car hits a deer on the road? Who pays your medical bills? Let’s assume you are driving your own car that is insured in New Jersey under a standard automobile insurance policy. In that scenario, your auto insurance pays your medical bills under the part of the policy known as “personal injury protection” or PIP. PIP also is sometimes called “no-fault insurance.”

So, if you are injured in an accident with a deer while driving your own car that is insured in New Jersey under a standard insurance policy, you can get your medical bills paid by your auto insurer. Hopefully, you will never experience this situation firsthand, but please be sure to contact an experienced personal injury attorney if you have any questions regarding your PIP benefits. I would be happy to meet with you to review your insurance policy free of charge here in my firm’s Marlton, New Jersey office.

You are in a car accident in New Jersey, and you’re not at fault. Even worse, your car is damaged. What do you do?

Well, you first should look at your auto insurance policy to determine whether your policy includes collision coverage. Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle as the result of a collision with another car or other object. Collision coverage also pays you for damage that you cause to your automobile. You can also make a claim under your own collision coverage for damage to your car from an auto accident you did not cause. This may take less time than making a property damage liability claim against the driver who caused the auto accident. Your insurer then may seek reimbursement (subrogation) from the insurer of the driver who caused the auto accident.

So, if you’re in a car accident, and you have collision coverage on your vehicle, you can make a claim through your insurance company for the damage that was sustained in the car accident. Your car insurance company will assign an adjuster who will assess the damage and will handle the claim for you. You will be responsible for paying up to the full amount of your collision coverage deductible. If the other driver is at fault for the accident, you can ask your insurance company to try to recoup your deductible from the responsible driver’s auto insurance company. If your insurance company recoups your deductible, it should forward it to you.  

If you do not have collision coverage on your vehicle, you can make a claim through the responsible driver’s insurance company in order to get your car fixed. Be forewarned, though, that you should carefully read anything that the insurance company send you before you decide whether to sign it. The other driver’s insurance company is not on your side, and their responsibility is to their insured, not you. Therefore, if you can afford it, you should always try to purchase collision coverage for your vehicle so that you will be able to make a claim through your own insurance if your car is damage in a collision with another car or object.

Additionally, if you are in a car accident, you should take photographs of your car and any other cars involved in the accident. If the other driver is responsible for the accident and his insurance company handles your car damage claim, you might not be able to get that company’s photos of your car damage unless you file a lawsuit. If you take your own photos, you at least will have evidence of what type of damage the car sustained in the crash.  

If you have specific questions about this topic or anything else on your auto insurance coverage, don’t hesitate to call one of Stark & Stark’s many experienced personal injury attorneys for a free consultation. Our attorneys frequently give free seminars for the public on auto insurance topics at libraries and meeting spaces throughout the state.  We are a free resource to help you make an informed decision on your auto insurance coverage. We’re here for you, so contact us if you have questions about auto insurance or any other personal injury issue.