Civil Reservation of a Plea of Guilty to a Traffic Offense

R. 7:6-2(a)(1) states: “Upon the request of the defendant, the court may, at the time of the acceptance of a guilty plea, order that the plea shall not be evidential in any civil proceeding.” See State v. Tsilimidos, 364 N.J. Super. 454, 458 (App.Div. 2003). In addition, “[this] non-evidential order should be entered as a matter of course on the request of a defendant…” State v. Smith, 2010 WL 3418919, 4 (N.J. Super. A.D. 2010). Consequently, while “guilty pleas to traffic offenses are admissible in civil suits to establish liability arising from the same occurrence,” Sharkey v. Hagan, 2009 WL 1617748, 5 (N.J. Super. A.D. 2009), in accordance with R. 7:6-2(a)(1) that evidence relating solely to Defendant’s guilty pleas tendered at the Municipal Court hearing may be inadmissible at trial in this matter.