TRENTON Two New Jersey state troopers cuffed a woman along a Warren County roadway and hauled her in on an obstruction charge because she refused to answer questions during a routine traffic stop, according to dashboard camera footage obtained by NJ Advance Media.
The Oct. 16 incident, which happened near the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border on Route 519, is now the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the woman, Rebecca Musarra, an attorney from Philadelphia.
Musarra claims in the suit the troopers violated basic rules familiar to anybody who's ever watched a police show on TV, including the right to remain silent.
She claims at least three troopers insisted during the ordeal that her refusal to answer questions was a criminal act.
Spokesmen for the State Police and the Attorney General's Office, which is representing the troopers in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the allegations.
But, State Police spokesman Capt. Stephen Jones said in an e-mail, "in every instance where misconduct is alleged against a trooper or troopers, as is the case here, (the division's internal affairs office) will review the allegations and investigate the facts.
"In the event that problems are identified, training and/or disciplinary measures are implemented where appropriate."
Attorneys for the state have sought in federal filings to have the civil case dismissed, claiming the troopers "acted in good faith and without fraud or malice." They have not yet addressed the specific charges in court papers.
NJ Advance Media obtained the footage, along with a dispatch log from that evening, through an Open Public Records Act request filed in April.
The documents show Trooper Matthew Stazzone pulled Musarra over just before 9:30 p.m., suspecting her of speeding. He was quickly joined by a second trooper, Demetric Gosa, records show.
The dashboard camera footage shows Stazzone approached the vehicle on the passenger side and asked Musarra for her license, registration and insurance.
"While you're looking for that, do you know why you're being pulled over tonight?" the trooper asked her, according to the tape. She claims she provided the documents but didn't respond.
After asking her several more times, Stazzone walked to the other side of her car, rapping on the window with his flashlight and again demanding a response.
"You're going to be placed under arrest if you don't answer my questions," he told her. Musarra claims the force of the flashlight chipped her window.
The footage shows she eventually told the trooper she was an attorney and that she did not have to answer questions. Stazzone then ordered her out of the vehicle.
As the two troopers cuffed her and walked her toward a troop car, Musarra asked them, "Are you detaining me because I refused to speak?"
"Yeah," Stazzone replied, according to the video. "Yeah, obstruction," Gosa added.
The troopers placed her in the back of the car and Stazzone read Musarra her Miranda rights including "you have a right to remain silent" before taking her to the nearby State Police barracks in Washington.
Clifton cop faces probe after brake-checking motorist (VIDEO) A man identified as a Clifton resident posted the video of a cop brake-checking him to YouTube last week.
State Police did not provide any video from inside the station in response to NJ Advance Media's records request. In her lawsuit, Musarra claims she was patted down twice and cuffed to a bench inside a holding cell. She also claims the troopers denied her request to call her parents, promising to call on her behalf but never doing so.
She claims a supervisor, Trooper James Butler, later entered the cell to ask her what had happened.
"I said, 'Well, the trooper arrested me for not answering his questions,'" Musarra told NJ Advance Media. "And the supervisor indicated (to me) that was obstruction."
New Jersey's obstruction statute defines the criminal act as impeding law enforcement through "flight, intimidation, force, violence, or physical interference or obstacle, or by means of any independently unlawful act."
Musarra said Butler then left to review the dashboard camera footage. After about 30 minutes, she claims, he returned and told her "a mistake was made, and to chalk it up to training, and that (Stazzone) was just a rookie."
Both Stazzone and Gosa joined the division in 2014, public payroll records show. Reached by phone, Stazzone declined to comment. Gosa and Butler could not be reached.
Musarra claims Butler then offered to get her car, which had been towed from the scene, out of impoundment for free as "a favor" and apologized for the incident.
She was never formally charged with obstruction or issued a summons as a result of the stop, records show. The whole ordeal lasted about two hours.
Musarra, a private attorney for a Delaware firm who sometimes represents immigrant children in legal matters pro bono, said she comes from "a law enforcement family." Her father is a former prosecutor in Warren County and her mother is a former probation officer, she said, and she understands "cops have a difficult job to do."
But, she added, "there has to be some sort of accountability."
"Who knows what will happen to the next person who comes down the road who decides they have these constitutional rights they want to assert?" Musarra said.
"What happens to them when they don't have the sort of privileges I have?"

#4: sneakypete To: Deckard, *Crime and Corruption* (#0)
In her case,I am sure the only reason she was released without additional charges like "suspicion of DUI/DUD's is because she is a lawyer licensed to practice law in NJ,and a member of a big firm. The cops knew anything they tried would come back on them. If she had been a waitress,they would have charged her with something else and then offered to drop the charges if she would sign off on not being mistreated.
sneakypete posted on 2016-05-06 11:19:32 Reply Private Reply
#5: sneakypete To: misterwhite (#1)
Wrong once again. You have them all the time. That's why they are called "RIGHTS" instead of "privileges".
sneakypete posted on 2016-05-06 11:21:25 Reply Private Reply
#6: A Pole To: misterwhite (#1)
Really? You do not have right to remain silent until you get arrested?
What if you are mute? Or unable to speak out of fear?
A Pole posted on 2016-05-06 11:26:43 Reply Private Reply
#7: misterwhite To: A Pole (#6)
All mutes in New Jersey are subject to arrest.
"Or unable to speak out of fear?"
If you're so fearful that you can't speak, you must have done something wrong. Therefore, you are subject to arrest.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 11:38:05 Reply Private Reply
#8: misterwhite To: All (#1)
Correction: You can remain silent but the right to remain silent is only protected after you're arrested.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 11:40:04 Reply Private Reply
#9: nolu chan To: misterwhite, Deckard (#1)
The right exists. The duty to inform one of the right kicks in after the detention becomes custodial.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-06 13:10:09 Reply Private Reply
#10: nolu chan To: misterwhite (#8)
Correction: you've got it wrong. The duty to inform one of the right to remain silent kicks in when the detention becomes custodial.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-06 13:12:47 Reply Private Reply
#11: misterwhite To: nolu chan (#10)
True. But your right to remain silent is a protected right even if you're not informed.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 13:25:26 Reply Private Reply
#12: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#1)
That's completely wrong. And funny!
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 13:30:24 Reply Private Reply
#13: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#7)
LOL!!!
So everyone who's afraid is subject to arrest!! Good one!
Surely you're being sarcastic! Not even you could be this stupid.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 13:33:24 Reply Private Reply
#14: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#8)
Wrong again.
Any "rights" not protected are not rights. Okay?
And the 5th Amendment says nothing about any requirement of arrest or detainment.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 13:35:18 Reply Private Reply
#15: ConservingFreedom To: Pinguinite (#14)
Not sure what you mean here - seems to me that many natural rights are not only not defended by government but are actively violated by government (e.g., the natural rights to grow, sell, buy, and use pot).
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-05-06 13:38:13 Reply Private Reply
#16: misterwhite To: Pinguinite (#14)
Sure they are. They're unprotected rights.
Otherwise, by protecting a right you're establishing that right. And our government doesn't establish rights.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 13:40:10 Reply Private Reply
#17: nolu chan To: misterwhite (#11)
The right to remain silent is protect from birth to death, except upon a grant of immunity.
It is not the right to remain silent that is affected by providing, or failing to provide, Miranda warnings. The ability of the government to use anything said, as evidence against the speaker, is affected.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-06 13:42:04 Reply Private Reply
#18: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#15)
The government does not protect your right to grow pot. Because of that, the government may pass laws against the growing of pot. They did.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 13:44:12 Reply Private Reply
#19: nolu chan To: misterwhite, Pinguinite (#16)
Miranda rights were created by the government.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-06 13:45:36 Reply Private Reply
#20: misterwhite To: nolu chan (#17)
Most states have laws that require you to identify yourself in certain situations. You can remain silent, but then you're going to jail until they can figure out who you are.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 13:46:55 Reply Private Reply
#21: Pinguinite To: ConservingFreedom (#15)
There are, in fact, actually different kinds of rights.
Constitutionally protected rights: Rights protected by the Constitution, aka right to remain silent, freedom of speech, etc. Often these rights are spelled with a capital R.
Statutory rights: These are rights not in the Constitution, but instead established by law. These rights can be created and removed by legislation.
Natural rights: These are rights considered to be given by God, and not within the authority of any man to remove, at least unilaterally. The DoI mentions "Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" as rights endowed by our Creator. Some would say growing & using cannabis, or otherwise doing what we wish to our own bodies would fall into this category. Arguably these rights are highest of all as even Constitutionally protected rights can be removed via the Amendment process.
Moral rights: The right to behave in a certain way in a context of moral justice. I.e. breaking into a neighbor's home to steal back something he stole from you, even if no other recourse is available. (Obviously this would almost always conflict any legal/statutory rights).
In the context of this discussion, we're talking about the right to remain silent as a Constitutionally protected right.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 13:59:25 Reply Private Reply
#22: Deckard To: misterwhite (#20)
She provided the required documents.
She's not required to vocalize her identity or engage in conversation with a cop.
Deckard posted on 2016-05-06 13:59:49 Reply Private Reply
#23: TrappedInMd To: Deckard (#0)
I got pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt a few years back and when the female officer asked me that same question I replied : "I think that you are supposed to tell me why"
She wasn't bothered at all by my answer and I later explained that I didn't want to incriminate myself if she was pulling me over for something else.
TrappedInMd posted on 2016-05-06 13:59:50 Reply Private Reply
#24: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#20)
The woman in this case did ID herself. She handed her papers over to the police. They arrested her for not being conversational. If the facts are as mentioned above, she should win and the cops should get big time reprimanded.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 14:02:04 Reply Private Reply
#25: TrappedInMd To: misterwhite, nolu chan (#20)
The traffic stop is special in regard to that because everyone driving is required to have and be able to provide a valid drivers license and registration.
From the story as written above its obvious he had no valid reason to arrest her.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" is a rhetorical question, not a serious one.
I know its a standard question.
TrappedInMd posted on 2016-05-06 14:06:11 Reply Private Reply
#26: Pinguinite To: TrappedInMd (#23)
That's exactly why they ask that. They want the driver to incriminate themselves. It goes into their report and gets mentioned to the traffic judge as a confession of wrongdoing. Or at least it can be. I'm sure it's standard training for cops when they do routine traffic stops.
Yes, the burden of proof is on the cop. Let them say why you were stopped, and don't affirm or deny anything they say you were doing. Even by denying it, you may inadvertently admit you were at the location where he thinks you did something wrong, and he may not even be sure he's got the right car.
Unless you want to try to sweet talk your way into a warning, which, if you happen to be a hot blond bombshell, could have merit. But legally, there's no requirement to discuss anything.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 14:08:19 Reply Private Reply
#27: misterwhite To: nolu chan (#19)
The rights always existed, but most people were unaware of them. As a result of the court case by the same name, law enforcement is now required to tell you about these rights after your arrest and before they question you. You can then claim those rights or waive them.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 14:15:29 Reply Private Reply
#28: misterwhite To: TrappedInMd (#25)
That's way it turned out, yes.
But her refusal to talk was suspicious. The cop thought so. So he played it safe and took her in.
I don't understand the people who want to fuck with the cops. When they end up getting arrested, I'm sorry, they had it coming. No sympathy for them, even if they were in the right.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 14:24:23 Reply Private Reply
#29: Deckard To: misterwhite (#28)
Seriously?
What is "suspicious" about not wishing to have a conversation with a cop?
I don't understand the people who want to fuck with the cops.
Yet in this case, the woman was not "fucking with the cops".
She did exactly what was legally required.
No more - no less.
Deckard posted on 2016-05-06 14:28:11 Reply Private Reply
#30: misterwhite To: Deckard (#29)
Seriously?
By the way, no one is talking about a "conversation" except you and your strawman buddy. She wouldn't say anything. That's odd. Especially when cooperation and being polite may get you out of a ticket.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-06 14:39:33 Reply Private Reply
#31: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#28)
Well, thank you for this refreshing blast of honesty.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 14:43:50 Reply Private Reply
#32: Pinguinite To: misterwhite (#30)
The fact is, a cop's "hunch" is not and never has been recognized as legit probable cause to arrest people.
Those cops who rely on the law for such decisions fair much better with community relations than do cops who consider themselves to be the law.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-05-06 14:48:18 Reply Private Reply
#33: Deckard To: misterwhite (#30)
There's nothing "odd" about that.
She identified herself - there is no requirement to talk to a cop.
Deckard posted on 2016-05-06 14:59:31 Reply Private Reply
#34: nolu chan To: misterwhite (#27)
The Miranda Rule had no existence until the Supreme Court created it in Miranda v. Arizona. It is one example of the vast body of court made law.
It operates as a sanction against government authorities rendering any information gained during an interrogation absent a warning in compliance with specific guidelines stated for the first time in the Miranda opinion, inadmissable against the accused.
It created a rule of criminal procedure regarding admissibility which did not previously exist.
Prior to the announcement of the rule in Miranda, no such rule existed.
Under your interpretation, the right to Miranda warnings always existed, and could have been used to overturn every conviction wrongfully obtained through the use of statements obtained without a Miranda warning which nobody had ever heard of.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/384/436/
U.S. Supreme Court
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
At 445:
At 478-79:
At 481:
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-06 18:42:08 Reply Private Reply
#35: Roscoe To: nolu chan (#34)
You didn't read the decision, SFB.
"The standard warning long given by Special Agents of the FBI to both suspects and persons under arrest is that the person has a right to say nothing and a right to counsel, and that any statement he does make may be used against him in court. Examples of this warning are to be found in the Westover case at 342 F.2d 684 (1965), and Jackson v. U.S., 337 F.2d 136 (1964), cert. den., 380 U.S. 935."
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-06 22:50:20 Reply Private Reply
#36: Fred Mertz To: misterwhite (#28)
She should have said, "Oink, oink" and be done with it.
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-05-06 23:02:55 Reply Private Reply
#37: GrandIsland To: TrappedInMd (#23)
That's exactly why pointed questions are asked "do you know why I stopped you"? For oral admissions.
It's Vehicle & Traffic Stop 101
GrandIsland posted on 2016-05-06 23:47:25 Reply Private Reply
#38: Roscoe To: Fred Mertz (#36)
Put her in the patrol car with the heavy duty suspension.
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-07 07:47:19 Reply Private Reply
#39: misterwhite To: Roscoe (#38)
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-07 09:32:24 Reply Private Reply
#40: Roscoe To: misterwhite (#39)
Fred's looking for his hand lotion.
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-07 14:53:04 Reply Private Reply
#41: Deckard To: Roscoe (#38)
Typical moronic response.
She's overweight so she must be guilty of something, right?
She was under no obligation to speak with the cop.
She showed the pertinent information and clammed up.
Which is what anyone should do.
Deckard posted on 2016-05-07 14:59:18 Reply Private Reply
#42: Roscoe To: Deckard (#41)
Fred blurted out "Oink, oink" as a matter of reflex. Don't be so hard on him.
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-07 15:02:24 Reply Private Reply
#43: misterwhite To: Roscoe (#40)
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-07 15:14:02 Reply Private Reply
#44: nolu chan To: Roscoe (#35)
I did read the opinion, SFB. You are too stupid to understand what you read. Also, you did not read the preceding circuit court opinions which you cite. In both cases, the FBI gave a non-Miranda compliant warning in accordance with what was then FBI policy. The evidence was upheld as lawfully obtained and the court in Westover noted that "as the law now stands, there is no automatic rule of exclusion which will bar use of such a confession...."
Miranda created an automatic rule of exclusion which had not previously existed. It created specific minimum mandatory guidelines for a mandatory warning, with compliance failure resulting in exclusion of the obtained evidence.
That the FBI voluntarily issued some form of warning (not meeting the Miranda standard) does not require all (or any) of law enforcement to issue any warning, nor does it make the FBI abbreviated warning compliant with the Miranda standard. Miranda cites the FBI warning only to show that a form of warning already existed, and was being used, within one element of the law enforcement community.
Jackson and Westover noted the then-standard FBI warnings voluntarily given by the FBI agents to comply with FBI policy, but did not make such warnings, much less Miranda warnings, compulsory upon anybody, and imposed no automatic sanction against the government if said warning was omitted.
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/337/136/227932/
Jackson v. U.S., 337 F.2d 136 (1964)
Danaher, Circuit Judge
As noted in this pre-Miranda case, there was no applicable automatic rule of exclusion.
Fahy, Circuit Judge, dissenting
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/342/684/248369/
Westover v U.S., 342 .F2d 684 (9th Cir. 1965)
The court found no abuses in the admission into evidence of the confession.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-07 15:21:05 Reply Private Reply
#45: A K A Stone To: Deckard (#0)
A K A Stone posted on 2016-05-07 15:28:33 Reply Private Reply
#46: Roscoe To: nolu chan (#44)
Then you're simply a liar, stumbling over yourself in full retreat.
SFBRoscoe posted on 2016-05-07 16:40:34 Reply Private Reply
#47: nolu chan To: Roscoe (#46)
I am sorry you are too stupid and ignorant to read and comprehend Miranda v. Arizona. Miranda is the precedent setting case, and Westover and Jackson are not, for the obvious reasons stated. Obvious to those who read and comprehend.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-08 10:10:10 Reply Private Reply
#48: Roscoe To: nolu chan (#47)
"The standard warning long given by Special Agents of the FBI to both suspects and persons under arrest is that the person has a right to say nothing and a right to counsel, and that any statement he does make may be used against him in court. Examples of this warning are to be found in the Westover case at 342 F.2d 684 (1965), and Jackson v. U.S., 337 F.2d 136 (1964), cert. den., 380 U.S. 935."
SFB
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-08 10:18:09 Reply Private Reply
#49: nolu chan To: Roscoe (#48)
I am sorry you are too stupid and ignorant to read and comprehend Miranda v. Arizona. Miranda is the precedent setting case, and Westover and Jackson are not, for the obvious reasons stated. Obvious to those who read and comprehend.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-08 10:19:21 Reply Private Reply
#50: Roscoe To: nolu chan (#49)
"The standard warning long given by Special Agents of the FBI to both suspects and persons under arrest is that the person has a right to say nothing and a right to counsel, and that any statement he does make may be used against him in court. Examples of this warning are to be found in the Westover case at 342 F.2d 684 (1965), and Jackson v. U.S., 337 F.2d 136 (1964), cert. den., 380 U.S. 935."
Furtively trying to move the goalpost, SFB.
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-08 10:40:32 Reply Private Reply
#51: nolu chan To: Roscoe (#50)
I am sorry you are too stupid and ignorant to read and comprehend Miranda v. Arizona. Miranda is the precedent setting case, and Westover and Jackson are not, for the obvious reasons stated. Obvious to those who read and comprehend.
nolu chan posted on 2016-05-08 10:48:19 Reply Private Reply
#52: Roscoe To: nolu chan (#51)
Time for more dishonest spam, SFB?
Roscoe posted on 2016-05-08 10:51:03 Reply Private Reply
#53: misterwhite To: nolu chan (#34)
That was the penalty for not advising the suspect of his rights.
As I said before, those rights already existed. Miranda simply required law enforcement to remind the suspect of those rights. Miranda did not create any rights.
misterwhite posted on 2016-05-08 10:57:41 Reply Private Reply