The Supreme Court’s recent decision in State v. Spell appears to have created bad law for the defense.  The issue in Spell was whether or not a police officer had to read the second paragraph of the refusal form in all instances.  The Appellate Division concluded that this was always a requirement even when an accused unequivocally refuses to provide a breath test.  The Supreme Court disagreed, concluding that the second and final warning need not be read where an accused  “either conditionally consents or ambiguously declines to provide a breath sample.”

I candidly see little logic to this ruling.  Why the Court sees no need to impose the minimum requirement of taking a minute to read a final warning is beyond me.  It certainly seems that this is only reasonable given the mandatory penalties associated with a refusal.