STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. YVONNE JEANNOTTE-RODRIGUEZ STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. MARTA I. GALVAN STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. LISA FERRARO (19-06-0446, PASSAIC COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-4361-19/A-4371-19/A-4374-19)
In these three appeals, the court affirms the trial court's order dismissing without prejudice a six-count indictment against a physician, and her medical assistant and office manager. The State alleged the medical assistant practiced medicine without a license; she and the physician fraudulently billed for the medical assistant's services under the physician's name; and all three individuals conspired to commit this fraud. The trial court did not abuse its discretion because, most significantly, the prosecutor failed to adequately and accurately instruct the grand jury about what a medical assistant may do without encroaching upon the licensed practice of medicine. And, because the law does not clearly draw a line around a medical assistant's scope of allowable activities, prosecuting someone for crossing the line may violate the right to fair warning. The prosecutor also improperly referred to additional evidence that he did not present to the grand jury, and presented a questionable analysis of the amount of money involved in the charged offenses. And the indictment lacked sufficient detail to give defendants a fair opportunity to mount a defense.
Although the trial court had dismissed a previous indictment against defendants, the trial court also appropriately declined to dismiss the second indictment with prejudice, as there was insufficient evidence of prosecutorial vindictiveness.
