an to whom disclosure was made. N.J.R.E. 506(a), N.J. Statutes Ann., (Administration of Civil and Criminal Justice), Title 2A:84A-22.2 (1994).
New Jersey statutory law also states that no such privilege exists under this statute if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a finding that the services of the physician were obtained in order to enable the defendant to commit or plan to commit a crime or to enable the defendant to escape detection or apprehension after the commission of a crime. N.J.R.E. 506(f), N.J. Statutes Ann. Title 2A:84A-22.6.
The language and intent of this statute are very clear. It is intended to prevent criminal defendants from hiding behind the physician-patient privilege when seeking treatment in order to facilitate their escapes or when communicating intentions to commit crimes to physicians. If the normal rules of the physician- patient privilege applied, defendants could prevent physician who treated them from testifying, even though plans of a crime may have been communicated to the physician or, as in this case, the defendant sought treatment for wounds suffered during the course of a c
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