NJ Drunken Driving News: Former Union City, New Jersey, Mayor Pleads Guilty to DWI
According to news reports, the repair records for the Hoboken police department's breathalyzer device came under scrutiny following revelations revealed during the drunken driving case against the former mayor of Union City. Based on news reports, former Union City mayor, Raul Garcia, had been arrested on charges of drunken driving following a car crash back in September when a breath-testing device showed a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.16 percent.
Understanding that the defined legal limit for intoxicated driving is a BAC of 0.08 percent, having twice that concentration of alcohol in one's bloodstream is hard to ignore. As New Jersey drunken driving defense lawyers, my firm has handled cases very similar to this one, certainly in terms of a motorist having a single-vehicle accident and then being accused by police of being under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs (drug DUI), or an illegal substance, such as marijuana or cocaine.
The facts are very important in these kinds of cases; especially the test results from a breathalyzer device, such as the Alcotest machine. Just as important to one's defense is the manner in which the police maintain that equipment. In certain circumstances, poor maintenance or faulty design can drastically affect the outcome of a DWI case, not the least of which is challenging the veracity of the data produced by these machines.
