Rule 501 - Privilege of AccusedN. J.S. 2A:84A-17 provides:
(1) Every person has in any criminal action in which he is an accused a right not to be called as a witness and not to testify. (2) The spouse of the accused in a criminal action shall not testify in such action except to prove the fact of marriage unless (a) such spouse consents, or (b) the accused is charged with an offense against the spouse, a child of the accused or of the spouse, or a child to whom the accused or the spouse stands in the place of a parent, or (c) such spouse is the complainant. (3) An accused in a criminal action has no privilege to refuse when ordered by the judge, to submit his body to examination or to do any act in the presence of the judge or the trier of the fact, except to refuse to testify. Adopted effective 7/1/1993. N.J.S.A. 2A:84A-17(4) which, as adopted in 1960, permitted adverse comment and inferences from a criminal defendant's failure to testify, in certain circumstances, was declared unconstitutional in State v. Lanzo, 44 N.J. 560, 562-564 (1965), citing Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 14 L. Ed. 2d 106 (1965). Accordingly, N.J. Evid. R. 23(4) was deleted by amendment adopted by the New Jersey Supreme Court, effective July 1, 1980.