New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog

Marijuana and Drug Possession in a Vehicle
While not an instance of drug DUI, an Elizabeth, NJ, man was arrested on a Sunday evening after being stopped for driving with an obstructed view Law enforcement officers will usually use a common traffic infraction, such as incorrect lane change or inoperative brake light, to initiate a traffic stop that might result in a further drunken driving or prescription drug DUI arrest. In this particular case, the officer charged the driver with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia including a hypodermic needle, and possession of suspected Oxycodone. The man was also served with summons for operating a motor vehicle with an obstructed view, driving under a suspended driver's license, not to mention possession of a controlled and dangerous substance (CDS) in a motor vehicle.

Drunken Driving Arrest following Accident
A Plainfield resident was stopped in the early morning hours following the reports of an accident at South and Hollywood avenues just before 3am. Police officers found a 23-year-old driver at the scene and apparently detected the smell of alcohol on the motorist's breath. The driver was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and careless driving.

CDS Possession in a Vehicle
A Newark driver, whose vehicle apparently looked very suspicious, was pulled over by a Cranford police officer on the grounds that the vehicle had illegally tinted car windows. During the traffic stop the officer noticed evidence of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia inside the 25-year-old's vehicle. The driver was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in a vehicle, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia.

In a similar incident, an 18-year-old Hillside driver, who had a juvenile passenger riding with him, was stopped around 11:30pm on a Thursday night on Cranford's North Avenue near Carpenter Place. Both the driver and his younger passenger were charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

CDS Drug Possession in a Vehicle
A Warren, NJ, resident was stopped for not having properly functioning rear brake lights on a Monday afternoon at the intersection of Raritan Road and Centennial Avenue. The routine traffic stop soon led to drug arrest when the officer noticed evidence of drug paraphernalia in the 44-year-old's vehicle. The man was arrested and charged with possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In another case of CDS possession in a vehicle, a man from Jersey City man was stopped by a traffic patrol officer for having illegally tinted windows during the early morning hours on a Saturday. According to police reports, the 34-year-old driver was stopped just after 2am Centennial Avenue. Noticing that the driver was apparently intoxicated, the officer also apparently saw some drug paraphernalia during the drunk driving arrest. The driver was charged with marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, not to mention driving under the influence of alcohol. Police also charged him with possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) in a motor vehicle.

Cranford police make narcotics, DWI arrests, NJ.com, April 15, 2010

When it comes to driving under the influence of alcohol on New Jersey's public roads, "tolerance" is by no means a word found in the vocabulary of the state's law enforcement community. Similarly the state has no patience for drinking and piloting a boat along the Garden State's coastline, its lakes or rivers and estuaries. DWI on the high seas, so to speak is just as serious an offense as here on land.

What's surprising is that boat owners don't always consider that the same standards which govern drinking and driving on public roads also apply to the operation of watercraft. Boaters must observe the same drunken driving laws as car, motorcycle and truck owners. Because of this, individuals who violate the DWI laws while boating are also subject to arrest for driving while intoxicated. And also included with this are those related offenses, such as prescription drug DUI and breath test refusal when the operator of a boat has a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) in excess of 0.08 percent.

New Jersey's statutes governing operation of a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are nearly identical to those that pertain to DWI with a motor vehicle. The penalties are also closely related. The implied consent laws that oblige a licensed driver to submit to a breath or blood test following a drunk driving stop also applies to the operator of a watercraft in New Jersey.

On the flip side, because the statutes are nearly identical between motor vehicle and boat operators, the approach to DWI defense is also quite similar. This fact means that a qualified and experienced drunk driving attorney can usually handle boating-related DWI cases with similar results -- certainly something to consider with the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner and summer coming into full swing.

Some drug arrests have been known to start with a DWI or drug DUI traffic stop. There's usually some reason for the initial stop, but a driver speeding down the highway is not a hard mark for a drunk driving or traffic enforcement patrol. A recent news report from Bergen County, NJ, shows the lengths that local police officers will go to apprehend a suspected drunken driver. As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, my legal experience includes years of defending motorists charged with driving while intoxicated either by alcohol, illicit drugs or prescription medications.

According to reports earlier this month, law enforcement officers from a number of towns in the vicinity of Mahwah, NJ, joined in a high-speed chase that began when a 1992 Toyota Celica was observed speeding along Route 17 in Mahwah around 2:30am. At that time, Mahwah Police Officer Stacy Conley apparently attempted to block the vehicle by pulling his patrol car across the highway with lights on. However, the Celica avoided the officer by veering onto the shoulder and kept traveling southbound at a high rate of speed.

The Celica's driver, 26-year-old Shahan Momin, was eventually being pursued by police vehicles from Bergen County, Paramus, Rutherford and Lyndhurst. Toward the end of the chase, Momim reportedly tried to pull of of 17 onto Route 3 but lost control of his vehicle, which rolled several times ending up in an opposing lane of the roadway.

Police quickly swarmed the suspect's vehicle taking Momim into custody by Mahwah police officers. Momin, a New York resident, was transported by Lyndhurst EMS to Hackensack University Medical Center, where police said he was treated and admitted for serious back and arm fractures.

A subsequent search of the man's car turned up a1.5 pounds of marijuana as well as various pieces of pot paraphernalia in the trunk. During his hospital stay, Momim was given a blood-alcohol content (BAC) test which revealed he was legally intoxicated. He was also charged with operating a vehicle without insurance.

From the search, police added charges of pot possession with the intent to distribute. The man was also hit with charges of eluding police, DWI, speeding, unsafe lane change, failure to yield to emergency vehicles, reckless driving, having a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) in a motor vehicle, and being uninsured.

Mad chase leads to crash, DWI, lots of pot, CliffViewPilot.com, June 6, 2010

Many people confronted with a first-time arrest for driving while intoxicated begin to wonder what factors, beyond any actual beer, wine or liquor consumption, affect the blood-alcohol content (BAC) results from an Alcotest or other breathalyzer device. Naturally, as New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, we understand this area of the law quite well. But sadly, the science behind drunken driving arrests and convictions may not always be completely reliable.

Whether a motorist received a breathalyzer test at a mobile DWI unit or at a police department, the machines are very similar. These devices do not measure alcohol content in the blood itself, they are actually designed to detect chemical compounds containing the methyl group of molecules. Based on this methyl measurement, these devices produce a reading (as a percentage of blood-alcohol content) that is used to charge the motorist with driving while under the influence.

One of the weaknesses in this method of BAC measurement is that breathalyzers like the Alcotest machine make an assumption that any methyl molecule detected in a person's breath is from alcohol. However, methyl molecules are not just found in alcoholic beverages, they exist in other substances.

The fact that the methyl group occurs elsewhere can be important knowledge for one segment of New Jersey's driving public: Smokers. According to recent studies, breathalyzer machines may have a hard time distinguishing between the methyl molecules in alcohol and those found in acetaldehyde.

For readers who didn't go to medical school or graduate with a degree in chemistry, acetaldehyde is a compound produced by the liver in small amounts as a by-product in the metabolism of alcohol. What came as a surprise to some researchers is the finding that acetaldehyde concentrations in the lungs of smokers was often many time greater than that found in the lungs of non-smokers.

Continue reading "New Jersey Drunk Driving Defense Update: Cigarette Smoking May Cause Higher BAC Breathalyzer Reading" »

A woman single-handedly pulled the plug on 18,000 residents in Cape May, NJ, on a cold March morning earlier this year, but the reason behind the crash that left so many in the dark was much more simple. According to court records, 26-year-old Denise M. Pomykacz of Burlington Township was driving under the influence of alcohol the morning of March 27 when she plowed into a utility pole just before 5am.

As a former municipal prosecutor and now as a New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer, I know how combining a DWI arrest with other traffic offenses or moving violations can complicate an individual's case. Whether one is facing charges of driving while intoxicated, breath test refusal or prescription drug DUI, there is no sense in making things worse by adding property damage or injury to the list of offenses.

In the recent case of Ms. Pomykacz, the former West Wildwood resident reportedly pled guilty in a Middle Township courtroom to DWI charges lodged against her following the drunken driving episode that winter morning.

That Saturday around 4:40am, according to police reports, Pomykacz crashed into a utility pole on Reeves Street between Vicks and Gibbs in the Whitesboro section of Middle Township. That accident and subsequent downing of the local power lines apparently shut down an electrical substation that supplied power to thousands of Atlantic City Electric customers in the local area, namely Middle Township and Stone Harbor.

Middle Township Police eventually caught up with the woman, who was arrested and ultimately charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to report a motor vehicle accident, failure to produce proper documentation, not to mention other miscellaneous charges no doubt associated with the cutting of power to 18,000 people.

As a result of her guilty plea, Pomykacz was sentenced to 12 hours' worth of participation in New Jersey's Intoxicated Driver Resource Center Program. Her driver's license was also suspended for 90 days, and she was fined $1,131 by the judge presiding over the case.

Woman who caused blackout for 18,000 in Cape May County pleads guilty to DWI, PressofAtlanticCity.com, May 25, 2010

If you feel that because jail time can be attached to certain drunken driving convictions that it makes sense for drunk driving offenses to be categorized as crimes requiring a trial by jury, well, you're probably not alone. However, as stiff as drug DUI or DWI sentence can be in cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs, the Superior Court of New Jersey apparently believes the right to a jury trial is not usually called for, or so it would seem based on a recent decision by the high court.

The recent decision in New Jersey v. McLaughlin by the state's Supreme Court Appellate Division made this abundantly clear when Steven G. McLaughlin filed an appeal a DWI conviction he received after he was denied a jury trial five years back in Ocean County, NJ.

According to court records, Mr. McLaughlin was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving in 2005 year when he was stopped for speeding in Brick Township, NJ. As a result of that drunken driving police stop, McLaughlin was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. His case went to court on September 21, 2005, which resulted in a conviction for DWI, speeding and reckless driving.

On appeal McLaughlin was again found guilty on all three counts and sentenced to 90 days in jail, plus another 90 days of in-patient treatment as a result of the DWI offense. There was also a 30-day concurrent sentence for his reckless driving conviction. The man's driver's license was suspended for 10 years and the court levied related fines and court costs against him. Prior his next appeal, McLaughlin's sentence and all penalties, except his revoked license, were suspended pending that court's decision.

On review of the case, the defendant's convictions were upheld in an unreported decision on June 13, 2007. It was at this point that McLaughlin applied to the Law Division for a jury trial on his DWI offense. Following oral arguments on October 10, 2008, the presiding judge denied the defendant's motion and ordering the immediate execution of the DWI and other sentences previously imposed.

The judge in the 2008 decision concluded that although the defendant indicated he faced serious quasi-criminal and civil consequences as a direct result of his original court hearing the law states that a defendant charged with DWI is not entitled to a criminal trial by jury. In short, drunk driving is not a criminal offense within the meaning of the New Jersey Constitution.

Continue reading "NJ Drunk Driving Defense News: Despite Potential Jail Time, DWI Not a Crime Meriting Jury Trial" »

A recent New Jersey appellate court ruling has opened the door to lawsuits from obviously intoxicated customers who purchase liquor prior to being involved in a DWI-related injury accident. The ruling essentially states that liquor establishments, such as beer and wine shops, are not protected under the same New Jersey statutes that prevent third parties from being sued by drivers found to be at fault in a car accident as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The court explained its decision stating that drivers who endanger public safety by driving while intoxicated should be penalized by being stripped of their right to suing third parties, however those owners of stores licensed for the sale of alcohol have a legal obligation to avoid serving drunken customers and then allowing them to go forth and travel New Jersey roadways (Voss v. Tranquilino, No. A-5431-08T1).

It was suggested that the state legislature was likely wrong to have imagined that the instances of drunk driving on Garden State roads would have been reduced by essentially "immunizing" beer-, wine- and liquor-sales establishments from lawsuits filed by drivers arrested for DWI-related traffic offenses.

This recent ruling affirmed the right of Frederick Voss, a cyclist injured in an accident in Toms River back in 2006, to pursue this claim against Tiffany's Restaurant, which had served him while drunk thus contributing to the accident. Voss reportedly pleaded guilty to DWI as a result of that accident.

Tiffany's argued it was immune from suit and sought summary judgment. Ocean County Superior Court Judge John Peterson denied the motion and the appeals court affirmed.

The 1997 anti-drunken driving amendments to motor vehicle insurance law, at N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(b), say a driver convicted of DWI in connection with an accident "shall have no cause of action for his or her injuries."

But this does not trump the Dram Shop Act, adopted 10 years prior, which protects the rights of people who suffer loss as a result of the negligent service of alcoholic beverages by licensed servers, the court explained. An interesting point here is that while typical suits against dram shops are usually brought by the victim of a drunk driver, the Dram Shop Law itself does not make a distinction between the victim or perpetrator of the accident.

The Voss decision is reportedly the first by a state appeals court to specifically deprive licensed premises of immunity in such cases. Regardless, the attorney for Tiffany's said that his client may appeal to the Supreme Court.

Drunken Drivers May Sue Dram Shops That Served Them Prior to Accidents, Law.com, April 30, 2010

Having worked for many years as a municipal prosecutor I gained a healthy respect for the people serving in law enforcement. Now as a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, I defend motorists accused of driving while intoxicated, arrested by some of those very same officers. While I admire the dedication of our police and their commitment to public safety, it gives me pause when I read about patrolmen and other individuals associated with law enforcement who flaunt the very laws they are sworn to uphold.

Being accused of drunken driving is nothing to be taken lightly, especially when fines and jail time are fairly heavy and the social stigma of being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol can very often ruin reputations and business careers. The police, like other persons of authority, have a duty to be exemplary role models to the rest of society.

A recent news article reminds all of us that police officers do not always practice what they preach, and sometimes cause great harm when ignoring the law themselves. Based on reports, forty-year-old Ruth Zelaya died on March 24 as a result of "complications from a 2007 car crash that killed her 2-year-old son and left her in a comatose state until her recent passing.

According to court reports, the three-year-old accident was caused by Kevin Freibott, a Middletown resident and Jersey City police officer. The former cop plead guilty in December 2007 to vehicular homicide, assault by auto and drunk driving. The ex-patrolman, now 40 years old, is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence and is not expected to face additional charges as a result of Zelaya's death due to the terms of his plea agreement.

The accident occurred in January 2007 on a stretch of the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City following a Freibott's reportedly five-and-a-half-hour "drinking marathon." According to police records, the man's blood-alcohol content (BAC) was 0.242 percent -- better than three times the legal limit in New Jersey.

An FBI agent who saw Freibott's Jeep Cherokee shortly before the crash told authorities that it "blew by him like he was standing still," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Stoma told Superior Court Judge Peter J. Vazquez.

News articles state that Freibott was fired from the Middletown police department in 2001 following a minor accident outside a tavern, however he was reinstated one year later. In 2005, he transferred over to the police department in Jersey City.

Other reports show that Freibott had a history of driving offenses dating back to 1986. According to New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission records, the man had six traffic violations between 1988 and 2001, including two for speeding and one other for driving under the influence of alcohol.

SECOND VICTIM OF DRUNK COP DIES, RedBankGreen.com, April 27, 2010