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July 13, 2009

Avoid a New Jersey Drunk Driving Arrest: Know Your Limit for Alcohol Consumption

With the Independence Day holiday behind us and summer in full swing, lots of people are enjoying themselves from Newark to the Jersey Shore and all the way down to Cape May. But along with that enjoyment comes responsibility. As a New Jersey DWI defense attorney, I’ve represented many clients who never realized they were legally intoxicated — having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more. Unless you have a properly calibrated breathalyzer handy, it’s tough to know whether you’ve had one too many.

I recently ran across an article that included a chart for gauging how many drinks an individual can consume while still staying legal and avoiding a drunk driving summons. It all has to do with body weight. Comparing a 100-pound aerobics fanatic to that 250-pound linebacker sitting at the next table, the big fellow can drink more than the smaller person and still be under the legal limit for BAC. But if it’s any consolation, portly couch potatoes have to buy more drinks to get the same buzz as those svelte folks out there.

Regardless, you should never drive in an impaired state. Even small amounts of alcohol can dull your senses, decrease reaction time, and hamper judgment, vision and alertness. Very simply, if you consume any amount of alcohol and your driving is affected, you could be convicted of driving while intoxicated. The chart below illustrates the relationship between alcohol, body weight and BAC level — this is not a guide, since drinking and driving are always a dangerous combination, and there are numerous other factors that can affect your BAC as well.

July 12, 2009

Police Blotter: New Jersey Drunk Driving and Drug DUI Arrests and Summonses

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Sparta

A 47-year-old man from Newton, New Jersey, was stopped by police for careless driving and charged additionally with driving while intoxicated. The arrest occurred on Route 15 when officers observed the man’s pickup truck being driven erratically. Following the incident, he was released pending a court appearance.

A Nutley, NJ, man was recently charged with drunk driving and refusing to submit to a breath test. The DWI stop took place after the 27-year-old was observed running a red light. Police officers charged the man with additional traffic offenses, including careless driving, not maintaining a lane, unsafe tires and not wearing a seatbelt. The man was subsequently released pending a court appearance.

July 11, 2009

NJ Legislature Seeks to Extend Drunk Driving Sobriety Testing Post-crash for Serious Wrecks

by Jonathan F. Marshall

The New Jersey statehouse wants mandatory sobriety testing for drivers involved in severe traffic accidents regardless of whether drunk driving is indicated as the cause of the crash. This is significant because the current law only allows police to administer breathalyzer tests and the like when evidence points to a case of driving while intoxicated, or at least clear suspicion that the operator of a vehicle was driving in an impaired state as a result of drug or alcohol use.

As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, I’ve seen drunk driving law evolve during my career as a municipal prosecutor and now as a drunk driving defense attorney. Society has little tolerance for intoxicated drivers and this bill is one more step in expanding the tools police have at their disposal. The bill states that law enforcement officers must take a blood or breath sample from the driver of a vehicle involved in a traffic accident that resulted in a fatality or that caused serious injury to another person.

A driver’s refusal to submit to such a test could result in fines up to $1,000 and a possible two-year suspension of the offender’s driver’s license — the same penalty for a conviction of refusal in relation to a drunken driving charge. According to news reports, opponents of the legislation have argued the unconstitutionality of a law that forces an individual to submit to a blood or urine test when there is no probable cause to suspect them of a crime.

July 9, 2009

DWI Arrest in Bridgewater, NJ, a Matter of Attempted Suicide

by Jonathan F. Marshall

People drink for all sorts of reasons, many times because they are unhappy with life or feel that they are in a situation from which there is no escape. As a New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer, I know that many people accused of DWI are not necessarily thinking clearly, and not just because of the physical affects of alcohol. A recent news article brought this home when I read that a woman from Middlesex County had tried to kill herself in Bridgewater Township.

According to police reports, Kathleen Hoffman, a resident of South Plainfield, was sitting in her Chevrolet Corvette at a scenic overlook near Route 78 in the early afternoon last Tuesday. Apparently distraught, the 55-year-old then crashed her sports car though a wood barrier, through a metal fence and down a steep wooded embankment, causing the car to roll several times before coming to rest at the bottom.

By the time rescuers arrived at the scene, she was trapped but still alive. Emergency workers had to cut her out of the vehicle, after which she was airlifted to nearby Morris Memorial Hospital where she was treated for moderate injuries. Thankfully, nobody else was injured in the incident, although it did tie up traffic on Route 78 for quite sometime.

July 7, 2009

Morris County, NJ, Drunk Driving News: DWI and Drug DUI Police Blotter

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Mount Olive

A 57-year-old Hackettstown woman was stopped by police last Saturday and charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to stay within her lane, and reckless driving. The drunk driving arrest occurred in Morris County, New Jersey, following a traffic stop on Oakwood Drive. The lady was released and currently has a court appearance pending.

Several potential drug DUIs recently occurred this past weekend. The first involved a 17-year-old juvenile from Long Valley, NJ, who was stopped by police for failure stay within his lane, as well as drug possession in vehicle. The stop took place on Route 46, after which the young man was released to one of his parents.

July 6, 2009

Plainfield Refusal Case Could Affect New Jeresy DWI Breathtest Instructions for Non-English Speakers

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Recent comments by a New Jersey appeals court could shift the thinking behind English-only instructions provided by state and local police during DWI stops. As a New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer, I have represented my share of non-native-English-speaking clients over the years, and I can tell you that many of these people are at a disadvantage when it comes to DWI enforcement.

The case in question stemmed from a driving while intoxicated arrest that occurred following a September 2007 traffic accident in Plainfield, N.J. A Hispanic man, German Marquez, had his license suspended for seven months after he apparently refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. According to court records, Marquez declined to take a breath test because he didn’t understand the 11-paragraph statement that a police officer read to him in English. After the statement was read out loud, the man responded, “No entiendo,” which means “I don’t understand” in Spanish.

The appeals court upheld the license suspension. In issuing its decision, the court stated that Marquez was made aware of the rules involving breath testing when he took the driver’s license exam in Spanish. It also reminded that the driving manual, written in Spanish, makes it clear that anyone who agrees to be licensed to drive in New Jersey is also giving advanced consent to a breath test.

July 2, 2009

DWI-DUI Sobriety Checkpoint Scheduled for Ocean Township, NJ, this July 4th Weekend

by Jonathan F. Marshall

New Jersey’s drunk driving laws will be strictly enforced this Fourth of July weekend, especially in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, where a sobriety checkpoint will be in effect from Friday evening until early Saturday morning. Sobriety checkpoints are frequently used by police and other law enforcement agencies to identify drunk drivers and make arrests for DWI and driving under the influence of illegal or prescription drugs.

As part of these sobriety roadblocks, police usually ask drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated to take one or more field sobriety tests. Breath testing apparatus, such as the Alcotest machine, are also employed to determine the specific content of alcohol in an individual’s bloodstream. The legal limit in New Jersey is 0.08 percent blood alcohol content (BAC).

This latest sobriety checkpoint will be set up on Ocean Avenue in the borough of Deal and remain in effect from 11pm Friday through 3am. Task force members and officers from the Deal Police Department will pull vehicles from the northbound lanes into the Deal Casino Beach Club parking lot to determine drivers’ sobriety, according to a press release issued by Brielle Police Chief Michael W. Palmer, task force coordinator.

June 30, 2009

Bridgeton, NJ, DWI Police Blotter: Two Drunk Drivers Arrested

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Two drivers were arrested last week for driving under the influence of alcohol in the Bridgeton, New Jersey. The first arrestee was an 18-year-old man from Upper Deerfield Township who was stopped by police for driving while intoxicated while underage, as well as reckless driving. The second arrest was that of a suspected illegal immigrant who was stopped for drunken driving and breath test refusal, as well as leaving the scene of an accident.

On the morning of Thursday, June 25, Bridgeton law enforcement officers clocked Blake A. Russo’s car on radar allegedly traveling at 67mph in a 30mph zone on West Broad Street. After stopping Russo, 18, police noticed an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. Although his blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.04 percent, he was charged with DWI while underage. He was also cited with possessing an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and speeding. Russo was later released on his own recognizance.

Later in the day, Hermenegildo Millan Ramirez, 28, of Spruce Street, was arrested around 10:15pm on North Laurel Street on the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Police found him after they received a report of an erratic driver at Cohansey and North streets. According to reports, Millan’s Ford pickup truck was the same as that involved in a hit-and-run accident at Burlington and Timber roads earlier. The man had apparently crashed his truck into a utility pole on the west side of Burlington Road.

Police cited Millan for leaving the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident, refusing to submit to blood-alcohol content testing, reckless driving, failing to exhibit a motor vehicle insurance card, failing to wear a seat belt, failing to keep right and failing to obtain a New Jersey driver’s license within 60 days of moving to the state. Because the man was a suspected illegal immigrant, he was placed in Cumberland County Jail without bail on a detainer issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

At The Law Offices of John F. Marshall, we represent a wide range of clients who have been arrested or received a summons for drunk driving, refusal to submit to a breath test or other DWI and DUI offenses. As with any arrest, we highly recommend that those charged with driving while intoxicated contact a skilled legal professional to better understand their rights under the law.
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June 29, 2009

New Jersey Man Gets Seven Years in Prison for Fatal DWI Traffic Accident

by Jonathan F. Marshall

A New Jersey court has sentenced a Glassboro, NJ, man to seven years in prison for a 2008 drunk driving accident that caused the death of his friend. Arthur L. Anwar Jr., 53, pled guilty to vehicular homicide last Friday for the fatal DWI traffic accident in Monroe Township last December 21. The Superior Court judge handed down the sentence as recommended by the assistant Gloucester County prosecutor for the second-degree offense of causing a death while driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to earlier reports, the seven-year jail term was offered in exchange for a guilty plea. As a New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer and former municipal prosecutor myself, I have vast experience with cases just like this one. In this instance, if the defendant had held out for a jury trial, he could have received a maximum of 10 years for the death of his friend, 24-year-old Arthur L. Davis, also from Glassboro. The defense’s case was complicated by alleged evidence of cocaine found on the suspect, though no drug DUI charges were actually levied.

According to police reports, the deadly accident happened in the early morning hours a few days before Christmas. Leaving from a bar in Glassboro, Anwar was driving his 1997 Mazda, with Davis in the front passenger seat, when the car crashed into the back of a dump truck on Glassboro Road in Monroe Township. Davis died in the hospital from multiple injuries not long after the collision. Anwar had admitted to being the driver of the vehicle and when police measured his blood alcohol content (BAC) they foudn it to be an incredible 0.205 — two and one-half times greater than the legal limit in New Jersey.

June 26, 2009

New Jersey State Police to Reel In Drunk Boat Captains this Summer

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Any small craft captain worth his salt knows it’s boating season, but before you power up your twin inboard, take a moment to scan the horizon and double-check your alcoholic beverage intake. This weekend, from Sandy Hook to Cape May, the New Jersey State Police will be patrolling offshore in search of intoxicated boat operators. And just like DWI for landlubbers, being arrested for boating under the influence (or BUI) can be a costly experience.

Drunk boating, like drunk driving, is enforced by local and state police units. This latest campaign, christened “Operation Dry Water,” begins today and runs through Sunday, June 28. It’s a combined effort between the New Jersey State Police and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and designed to hook skippers piloting their craft under the influence of alcohol in state waters, which includes bays and the ocean up to three miles out.

According to the USCG, enforcement will be heaviest in the Atlantic City and Cape May areas, with sobriety checkpoints set up at various points on the water. In addition to BUI offenses, law enforcement personnel will be looking for anyone navigating recklessly or carelessly. Those observed exhibiting drunken behavior should be prepared to be boarded and examined for intoxication.

In New Jersey, boaters can lose their boating privileges for one year and their automobile driver’s license as well. That’s three months for a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more, and seven months for 0.10 percent or more. You should know that while New Jersey does not confiscate boats of those captains who are arrested for BUI, other states do confiscate watercraft.

Authorities also will usually administer field sobriety tests, although they can be somewhat different from those conducted on dry land. And although they do not want to give away their tactics in detail for this coming weekend, law enforcement agencies say their goal is not to arrest boaters so much as to educate them about the BUI problem.

One message authorities are pushing is that alcohol has an enhanced effect on the water. According to experts, the glaring sun, waves, motion of the boat and other influences aboard a boat only help the body absorb alcohol faster. This can impair an individual’s motor functions, reaction time, judgment and other critical boating skills.
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