Articles Posted in Breath Test Refusal

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As professional trial attorneys, my colleagues and I have a great deal of respect for our men and women in uniform: the soldiers in our military who fight for our nation in conflicts abroad, and the law enforcement and emergency services personnel who maintain order and protect the health and safety of citizens here in the Garden State and elsewhere throughout our country.

In fact, as a former municipal prosecutor myself, I have worked closely with police officers and other New Jersey law enforcement officials to uphold our state and federal legal statutes. I fully understand the dedication and sacrifice that those in law enforcement provide to our communities on a daily basis. But, while I respect and admire the efforts and selfless commitment of our police officers as a whole, I also know that there can be some bad apples in every bushel.

There is a line we all must draw when a public servant breaks the laws he has been sworn to uphold. As citizens, each of us should expect every public official, including patrolmen, to carry themselves with dignity even when off duty. The vast majority of police, judiciary and legislative representatives in this state are a credit to their individual professions as they go about their lives being the exemplary role models that the rest of us can appreciate and emulate.
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In our line of work there is no lack of odd circumstances that arise when considering the range of cases involving drunken driving or drug DUI. Here in the Garden State, police agencies and the officers who work for them are not the least bit sympathetic to drivers who even have merest appearance of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. While this can sometimes result in a motorist being arrested erroneously for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, other DWI arrests are much more legitimate. However this doesn’t mean that nothing can be done when the time comes to go before a judge.

Whatever the circumstances, as a New Jersey law firm providing legal representation to individuals charged with one or more of any number of drunk driving offenses, we highly recommend consulting a qualified DWI trial attorney before taking one step into a courtroom. There is no excuse, with free consultations available from many reputable DWI lawyers, that any person accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or prescription medication not be informed about his or her rights under the law.

Of course, as we stated previously, there are exceptional or at least odd circumstances where a motorist may find himself arrested for DWI-DUI following a police stop. Such was apparently the case a short while back when a Middlesex County man was taken into custody and charged with drunk driving after a police officer noticed a vehicle parked in a restricted area of the Mountainview state prison off Petticoat Lane in Hunterdon County, NJ.
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As drunk driving defense attorneys, I and my staff of skilled trial lawyers have been representing motorists accused of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated for many years. Here in the Garden State, there are many different ways in which to be charged with some kind of alcohol-related driving offense. As a former municipal prosecuting attorney, and now as a DWI defense lawyer, I understand that some individuals should never have been accused of drunken driving in the first place, while others simply could benefit from the representation that my law offices provide.

Although some people may consider a straight DWI-DUI charge as the worst possible accusation that a driver could receive from the police, it is equally serious when a motorist — for whatever reason — chooses not to submit to a breath test when a police officer requests it. For this reason, I and my colleagues always recommend that anyone having been charged with breath test refusal seek an experienced drunk driving attorney before they step foot in a courtroom.

While it may seem to be a good choice to some drivers, refusing to submit to a breath test here in the Garden State is usually treated with the same enthusiasm by prosecutors as any other DWI or DUI arrest. As we tell many of our clients who choose this route, breathalyzer refusal a serious offense that one cannot afford to take without proper legal representation.
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In the course of driving throughout the Garden State, there’s a good chance that a percentage of motorists have seen roadside traffic stops from time to time. Whether those police stops are conducted at night or during the daytime; on the parkway or in the city, every week there are numerous New Jersey and out-of-state drivers who are stopped by state troopers or municipal cops for what may appear to be a rather minor traffic violation, but which ends up costing those people hundreds or thousands of dollars.

We’re talking, of course, about those traffic stops that develop into an alcohol or drug-related arrest. While not every police stop ends in an arrest for DWI or a summons for drug DUI, many New Jersey motorists in counties such as Bergen, Ocean and Monmouth discover the hard way that drinking and driving can land them in a courtroom to explain themselves before a judge.

This is where my law firm comes into play. As DWI defense attorneys and experienced trial lawyers, my legal staff understands this state’s drunken driving laws. We also understand the way in which otherwise law-abiding individuals can find themselves in the back of a police cruiser on the way to the local police department for a breath test and possible charges. Regardless of the final determination — be it impaired driving due to beer, wine or liquor; or some controlled dangerous substance (CDS) such as marijuana, cocaine or meth – the costs can be high.
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Among the more common traffic stops here in the Garden State are those for speeding, improper lane change, faulty vehicle equipment and others. For a fair percentage of those drivers stopped for a relatively minor traffic offense, there are no serious repercussions; however, a segment of the driving public can end their day in some instances with a court summons for drunken driving. As New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, we understand how easy it truly is to find oneself on the wrong end of the law.

It’s no secret that intoxicated driving is a common and year-round problem for many municipalities across the Garden State. But the incidence of impaired vehicle operation can certainly become more so during the warm-weather months. I and my colleagues recognize this and offer the following news items as examples of the random, yet hardly infrequent kinds of DWI and drug DUI arrests here in New Jersey.

Whether one lives or works in Union County, the circumstances surrounding alcohol-related traffic offenses always seem to be similar, if only because they usually begin with a basic traffic infraction or other driver mistake leading to a police stop. Here are just a few examples:
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Prosecutions of motorists accused of driving while intoxicated can unfold in a number of different ways here in the Garden State. In situations where a driver is charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol usually focus on whether or not the defendant was impaired by beer, wine, hard liquor of some other type of alcoholic beverage. Arrests made on the basis of having a blood-alcohol content (BAC) reading of 0.08 percent or more is typically referred to as a “per se” charge.

As New Jersey drunk driving defense attorneys, I and my legal team understands New Jersey’s DWI-DUI law, which can be unusual in several ways. First off, unlike many other states across the country, New Jersey doesn’t give accused DWI or drug DUI offenders the right to a jury trial. A motorist accused of driving while intoxicated in the Garden State is entitled only to a court trial, where a judge is the sole decider of guilt or innocence. Naturally, there are various advantages and disadvantages to this approach.

One important “advantage” for those defendants who are found guilty by a judge of DWI-DUI in New Jersey is that the guilty party has the right to an appeal, known in legal circles as a “de novo” appeal. In cases where the defendant loses his initial DWI case, the de novo appeal allows the appellant to bring his case before a county-level Superior Court judge, who will review the trial transcripts and listen to arguments from both the motorist’s lawyer and the state’s attorney.
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It’s easy to become incensed about a traffic ticket, especially for an individual who has never before been face to face with a municipal patrolman or a state trooper; authority figures who essentially tell a that person that he was, plain and simple, in the wrong. But imagine not only being told you were wrong, but that you were being arrested for your mistake as the officer saw it. It’s not hard to see that many an otherwise law-abiding citizen might lose his cool under such circumstances.

As New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, my firm is well versed in the laws of this state as they apply to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of beer, wine, hard liquor, and even prescription medications or illicit drugs. With more than 100 years of collective litigation experience, I and my colleagues take our jobs very seriously when it comes to representing the interests of clients who have been accused of drunken driving, breath test refusal, CDS possession in a vehicle, drug DUI and other DWI-DUI cases.

While many of our clients are first-time offenders, there is no lack of people who find themselves in similar situations each and every day. Alcohol and drug-related traffic arrests are made by police constantly all across the Garden State. We are asked quite often by potential clients if an officer needs a warrant to make a drunk driving arrest. The short answer is actually, No.
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As New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyers, my law firm is dedicated to assisting drivers who have been accused or otherwise charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or some other substance which may or may not have caused impairment of the motorist’s mental or physical abilities. As experienced trial attorneys working in the area of drunken driving law, we have worked hundreds of DWI cases in our many years of practice.

Defending motorists against drunken driving charges takes skill and training, which the lawyers in my firm put to use every day. Of the many potential charges that police may press against a driver, breath test refusal is one of several that are probably not well understood by the general public. What many drivers may not even recall is that the issuance of a driver’s license in the state of New Jersey comes with an implied agreement on the part of the driver that essentially means any driver who is suspected of driving drunk shall provide a breath sample when requested by police.

By being licensed to drive a motor vehicle in the Garden State, every driver implicitly accepts the terms and conditions of what is known as the “New Jersey Consent Law.” After doing so, a driver who is accused of DWI and will not provide a breath sample to officers can be hit with a “breath test refusal: charge as well. This is laid out in what we typically refer to as the New Jersey Refusal Law the penalties of which are stated in New Jersey legal statutes N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4.
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In this modern age of inter-linked electronic databases, public safety and private surveillance cameras, as well as those not-so-modern two-way radios and walky-talkies it still amazes us that some individuals feel they can avoid being caught by the police following a civil or criminal incident simply by leaving the scene of an accident or other event. As recent tragic events here on the East Coast have illustrated, no matter who you are or what you may have done, there is little chance of escaping the long arm of the law.

Of course, as New Jersey criminal and civil trial attorneys whose job it is to represent people accused of a wide range of offenses — even relatively minor ones such as drunken driving or marijuana possession — we are well aware that the law is designed to protect innocent people from unjust arrest or erroneous accusations. The fact of the matter is that here in the United States, our system of law is predicated on the understanding that anyone accused of an offense is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

As drunk driving defense lawyers assisting motorists here in the Garden State, we stand by the rights provided by the U.S. Constitution and we use these laws and those of the State of New Jersey to defend drivers charged with driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by prescription medications or other, possibly illegal drugs; not to mention breath test refusal and other alcohol-related violations.
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Of course, it’s easy to suggest after the fact that a defendant should or shouldn’t have done this or that prior to or during a DWI arrest. And to suggest that anyone reading this right now will later be going out to willfully drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs would simply be unfair. However, in this world of “would-a, should-a, could-a,” we might be remiss if we didn’t say that getting caught up in a traffic accident — even a minor fender-bender — while impaired by drugs or alcohol could possibly complicate a person’s defense.

As New Jersey DWI and drug DUI defense attorneys, I and my staff of experienced trial lawyers are constantly approached by potential clients looking for help after being accused of driving while intoxicated. The answers are not always simple, but the causes for drunken driving arrests can usually be traced to one of many seemingly minor moving violations that open the door to a full-blown DWI arrest.

Now, we can think of dozens of examples of Jersey motorists who have added a reckless driving or vehicular assault charge to what is already a potentially costly drunken driving offense. As we’ve said many times before, there is no reason to complicate one’s life — much less one’s defense against a drunk driving accusation — by getting into a car accident while possibly inebriated at the time. And trust us, even one or two drinks prior to a traffic stop may be all it takes to get slapped with a drunk driving summons in this state.
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