When should a defendant faced with criminal charges be permitted to plead guilty while at the same time reserving the right to keep the guilty plea from being used as evidence against her in a civil case? Rule 3:9-2 purports to answer that question by saying that such reservation of rights should be permitted “for good cause shown.” The recent Appellate Division decision, State v. McIntyre-Caulfield, decided on May 18, 2018, provides a far more complete and satisfactory answer.
Marianne McIntyre-Caulfield was charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child after an infant tragically died in her care after being placed on his stomach for a nap at her home where she ran a daycare business. The state agreed to let her enter the pretrial intervention program, which required her to plead guilty, but meant that the charges would be dismissed after completion of a three-year program. However, because the child’s parents had threatened to sue her, and her insurance company had denied coverage and refused to provide a civil defense, a guilty plea meant almost certain financial ruin.
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