Eric Munoz

Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Union) was voted New Jersey's Smartest LegislatorCongratulations to Eric Munoz, a trauma surgeon, five-term Assemblyman, and the smartest member of the New Jersey Legislature, according to PolitickerNJ.com readers. Munoz won the Smartest Legislator Tournament, where over 100,000 votes were cast during six rounds over the last two weeks.

Munoz, who was the #4 seed, defeated Barbara Buono in Round 1, John Wisniewski in Round 3, Charlotte Vandervalk in the Sweet Sixteen, Mary Pat Angelini in a controversial Elite Eight that was marred by the presence of a computer robot who cast thousands of votes for Angelini, Bob Gordon in the Final Four, and Pamela Rosen Lampitt in the final round.

Several months ago, there were suggestions that Genovese might get support -- mostly financial -- from a group of key Democratic insiders who wanted to use the 21st district State Senate campaign as a form of retaliation for Kean's U.S. Senate race against Robert Menendez last year. But Democrats now concede that Genovese has turned out to be a weak and largely unfocused candidate with little chance to score an upset in a legislative district where Menendez won 46% one year ago. Genovese's failure to mount an effective campaign has allowed Kean to spend money in other districts. Kean will likely be re-elected, probably by his usual margins, and seems well positioned to become the next Senate Minority Leader.

While Assemblyman Eric Munoz struggles to defend himself in credentialsgate, his 21st district running mate seems to have emerged as the front runner for Assembly Minority Whip. Jon Bramnick has been quietly collecting commitments for support and appears to be much more popular among his colleagues than Munoz, who as the fourth ranking member of leadership, was next in line to succeed Frank Blee. Blee is expected to move up to the State Senate next month following the resignation of Bill Gormley.

Assemblyman Eric Munoz told some attendees at a Summit GOP fundraiser on Sunday that the allegations against him by a Delaware Superior Court Judge are politically motivated and that Republicans should pay no attention to them. But the Judge, Peggy Ableman, is a career jurist who spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney and seventeen years as a Family Court Judge before her appointment to the Superior Court in 2000. One Union County Republican suggested that Munoz's theory that a Judge in Delaware is somehow conspiring to damage his political career "is a testament to his massive ego."

A confident Munoz also told the Summit Republicans that "any press is good press."

It is rare for a Judge to openly and harshly rip apart a witness in a published court decision, as Delaware Superior Court Judge Peggy Ableman did in 2006 when she attacked the credibility and integrity of Eric Munoz, a UMDNJ trauma surgeon and a four-term Republican Assemblyman from Union County.

Ableman's comments that allegedly sham expert testimony, like the one offered by Munoz, is exactly why states like New Jersey have adopted laws to prevent frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits to keep insurance rates in check. Munoz, a Republican Assemblyman from Union County, has been an outspoken proponent of medical malpractice reform. A few years ago, while escorting the Governor for a speech on the Assembly floor, he wore a doctors gown to show the plights of his fellow physicians.

But at the same time, Munoz was allegedly helping plaintiffs less than credible lawsuits that he was, apparently, not qualified to pass judgment on. This is not something minor. The Delaware court opinion could open the door for other defendants in cases where Munoz acted as an expert, to re litigate. That puts some legitimate victims of medical malpractice in danger, as well as potentially innocent defendants in the medical community.

As a way of cracking down on frivolous lawsuits, a number of states, including New Jersey and Delaware, require plaintiffs in malpractice cases to produce an "affidavit of merit" within a short time period of the lawsuit being filed. The affidavit of merit statute requires the plaintiff to produce an expert professional to give his or her sworn opinion that the lawsuit is legitimate and that malpractice may have occurred. If the plaintiff cannot produce an affidavit of merit, the lawsuit is dismissed.

New Jersey's old affidavit of merit law was singled out for criticism during the recent medical malpractice crisis. The physician community pointed out that the N.J. affidavit of merit statute was too weak, and that many plaintiffs were shopping for "hired guns" around the country who would come in and give affidavits on areas of medicine for areas where they were no experts. For example, there was nothing under New Jersey law to prohibit a family practice physician from filing an affidavit of merit statute in a complicated case involving neurosurgery.

The New Jersey Medical Society and others suggested strongly suggested reforming the law to require that the affidavit of merit include expert testimony from the same specialty or subspecialty of the defendant physician. Under legislation signed into law during the last legislative session, New Jersey strengthened its affidavit of merit law on expert witness testimony. New Jersey -- like Delaware -- now requires the plaintiff's expert to be of the same specialty or subspecialty as the defendant physician. This is to help ensure that the affidavit is produced by a true expert in the field and not a hired gun.

In New Jersey, Munoz was a prime sponsor of legislation that would require experts to be board certified in the area of medicine they were addressing.

Allegations that GOP Assemblyman Eric Munoz may have perjured himself while providing expert testimony in a Delaware medical malpractice case could affect an upcoming Assembly leadership contest, and in his bid for re-election this fall.

Munoz had been considered a likely candidate for Minority Whip, if Frank Blee wins a Special Election Convention to replace Bill Gormley in the State Senate.

The 21st district is Republican-leaning, but challenges to Munoz's personal ethics -- he was among the GOP surrogates who criticized Bob Menendez in the recent U.S. Senate campaign -- could result in renewed interest by the Democrats. One potential candidate is Jordan Glatt, the Democratic Mayor of Summit and a favorite of Governor Jon Corzine. If Munoz does not seek re-election, or if Republicans seek to replace him on a ticket that will be headed by State Senator Thomas Kean, Jr., Union County GOP Chairman Philip Morin, a former Mayor of Cranford, could emerge as the leading candidate.