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June 25, 2009

Thomas Campo to Join Our DWI Defense Team

We are excited to announce that Thomas Campo, Esq., has agreed to become a part of our drunk driving and criminal defense practice. Tom possesses extensive knowledge and experience litigating New Jersey dwi, refusal and dui cases. His skills as a litigator have been refined over approximately 15 years including time as an Essex County Prosecutor, Monmouth County Prosecutor and, most recently, serving as municipal prosecutor in towns such as Toms River, Brick Township, Holmdel, Point Pleasant Beach, Mantoloking, Stafford, Ship Bottom, Surf City, Long Beach, Beach Haven, Beachwood, Waretown (also known as Ocean Township), Lacey, Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor and Plumsted. I have known Tom for a long time and have always been impressed by, among other things, his overwhelming accolades, especially from prosecutors and police officers with whom he has worked.

Tom’s arrival to our practice coincides with our recent efforts to provide additional legal resources for those charged with driving while intoxicated and/or breath test refusal in Ocean County. In this regard, we recently launched DWI, Refusal & DUI resource pages for Beachwood, Bay Head, Barnegat Township, Beach Haven, Berkeley Township, Brick Township, Eagleswood Township, Island Heights, Jackson, Lacey Township, Lakehurst, Lakewood Township, Lavallette, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township, Manchester Township, Mantoloking, Ocean Township (Waretown), Plumsted Township, Seaside Park, Seaside Heights, Ship Bottom, Stafford, Toms River, and Tuckerton. Tom has served as municipal prosecutor in a large majority of these municipalities at one time or another. His familiarity with the Courts and the police officers in these venues should be very helpful to our clients.

June 23, 2009

30 NJ Troopers Responsible for 900 Drunk Driving Arrests in 2008

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recently awarded more than 70 New Jersey police officers for their DWI arrests during 2008. State troopers and officers from Bergen, Hudson and Ocean Counties, among others, were honored at an event supporting the state’s law enforcement community for its efforts in actively locking up drunk drivers. The event was headed by the Executive Director of MADD NJ, Mindy Lazar, and hosted by Pierre’s Restaurant in Middlesex County.

As citizens we can appreciate the difficult and dangerous work that members of New Jersey’s law enforcement community take on every day. What’s surprising is that 30 state troopers accounted for nearly 900 driving while intoxicated arrests last year. That averages out to less than 30 DWI arrests for every trooper. What does this say? Perhaps that the average police officer has less experience in drunk driving cases than any of the DWI defense lawyers currently practicing at our offices.

The three attorneys in our office have a total of 40 years experience between them defending clients in areas such as drunk driving and breath test refusal. Although there are no plea bargains in New Jersey DWI/DUI cases, the drunk driving defense attorneys of this state have some of the highest success rates in the nation. As a former prosecutor myself, I know first-hand that New Jersey prosecutors are taught that they will have a difficult time winning a case when the defendant has a DWI defense lawyer by his side.

June 22, 2009

Ocean County DWI Arrest? Why You Need a New Jersey Drunk Driving Defense Attorney

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Have you been arrested for DWI in Barnegat, Lacey or Manchester Township? Perhaps you’ve been stopped for driving under the influence of alcohol in one of the smaller communities, such as Island Heights, Seaside Park or Bayhead. The summer months bring out the fun-loving spirit in all of us, but sometimes individuals get a little too loose.

Whether you have recently been ticketed for DWI or received a summons for being under the influence while sitting in your parked car. Were you intoxicated? Maybe. Was that drunk driving charge truly deserved? Maybe, and maybe not. Like many aspects of the law, not every DWI case is completely black and white.

As New Jersey DWI defense attorneys, many of our clients believe they have been unfairly accused. Although some may have actually broken the law, they also understand the consequences of a drunk driving conviction and they want to improve their chances in court. But the people I worry most about are the ones that don’t seek our firm’s advice and counsel. Those are the people that believe they “earned” that summons. Or maybe they believe, incorrectly, that there is no way to fight the charges. But this is the wrong way to look at it.

June 21, 2009

Drunk Driving Suspected in Multi-Car Injury Pileup in Newark

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol were suspected contributing factors in a horrendous multi-vehicle DWI accident a few nights ago in Essex County, New Jersey. An allegedly drunk driver was in one of two cars observed traveling at a high rate of speed just before they both crashed into three other vehicles waiting for a traffic signal at a busy Newark intersection.

Nine people were injured in the five-car crash at the intersection of Frelinghuysen and Haynes Avenues. Except for the driver and passenger in one of the five vehicles, everyone involved escaped serious injury — those two people were reportedly taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Following the early-morning accident, police detained Rayquan Horton, 24, who they suspected was one of the two drivers who may have been responsible for the accident. Horton, a resident of Irvington, New Jersey, was later charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. According to preliminary police reports, all of the people involved in the accident were coming from the same night club in Elizabeth.

June 19, 2009

Morris County, NJ, Police Blotter: DWI and Drug DUI Arrests

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Butler — A local man was charged with drunk driving after police responded to a citizen’s call regarding a person drinking alcohol in a parked vehicle at a convenience store along New Jersey’s Route 23. According to reports, on June 12, police responding to the alleged DWI found a 65-year-old man in the driver’s seat of his running 1996 Toyota Camry in a Stop & Shop parking lot. He was drinking alcohol and had open containers of alcoholic beverages in plain view on the front seat, police said. The suspect was taken to police headquarters and charged with DWI, consumption of alcoholic beverages within a motor vehicle and reckless driving. He was later released to a relative, pending an appearance in court.

Madison — A 46-year-old male from Morris Plains was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, refusal to submit to a breath test, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, as well as failure to report an accident after he allegedly was involved in a car crash on Woodland Road on the evening of June 12. Witnesses reported seeing the intoxicated man driving away from the crash site, heading west on Woodland Road in a white Cadillac Escalade. Police searched for the vehicle by following a fluid trail that led them to Green Avenue, where the suspect was arrested for DWI after failing to pass field sobriety tests.

Pequannock — An Oak Ridge resident was charged with DWI on the morning of Wednesday, June 19, after police observed a 2010 Ford Mustang driving erratically southbound on Route 23. Officer Kevin Ricciardi stopped the 50-year-old driver near the Scott Center in Pompton Plains, and noticed an odor of alcohol coming from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. According to reports, the driver appeared to have trouble finding his documents and exhibited slurred speech. The officer arrested the man after he failed several field sobriety tests. Police also found a prescription bottle in the vehicle containing two types of medication, one of which was confirmed to be the pain killer Percocet. The man was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS). He was also issued summonses for possession of CDS in a motor vehicle, refusal to submit breath samples, failure to maintain lane and failure to exhibit registration.

June 18, 2009

College Student DWIs Up in New Jersey, U.S. Says Drug and Alcohol Report

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Apparently, driving while intoxicated is still high on the curriculums of New Jersey’s university students. Based on information coming out of Little Falls, NJ, a recent study shows drunk driving — as well as binge drinking — continues to be a problem with college-age adults, here and across the nation. According to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, driving under the influence of alcohol among undergraduates increased from 26.5 percent to 29 percent between 1998 and 2005, while alcohol-related deaths rose about three percent.

Binge drinking may be a major factor in this trend, as the report also showed that the percentage of students who pursued this activity while attending school increased from approximately 42 percent to 45 in the seven years from 1998 to 2005. The increase in binge drinking — defined as five or more drinks on any one occasion — occurred primarily in students ages 21 to 24, according to the study.

Published in the July special issue of the journal, it shows the percentage of students aged 18 to 24 who drove drunk increased by nearly three percentage points between 1999 and 2005. Similarly, those engaged in binge drinking rose from 41.7 percent to 44.7 percent, according to Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., and his colleagues. The study was one of 14 published in the special supplement, which focuses on college drinking problems.

June 16, 2009

Bergen County, NJ, Drunk Driving and Marijuana DUI Police Blotter

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Lyndhurst — a 52-year-old driver was picked up for driving under the influence of alcohol during the evening of May 14. The Rutherford, New Jersey, resident was arrested for DWI, possessing an open alcoholic beverage container in his car, careless driving, as well as improper parking. The incident occurred in the parking lot at 540 New York Avenue in Lyndhurst. According to police reports, the man’s vehicle was observed parked partially in the parking lot and partially in the roadway. After being charged for drunk driving, as well as the other offenses, he released to Hackensack University Medical Center.

Lyndhurst — Hours later, during the early morning of May 15, a 41-year-old man from Milton, MA, was also arrested for driving while intoxicated, as well as refusing to submit to a breath test following a motor vehicle stop on Ridge Road near New Jersey Avenue. Prior to being released to a responsible party, the man was also charged with being an unlicensed driver, careless driving and failure to maintain a lane.

North Arlington — During a routine motor vehicle stop in the late evening of May 8, police reportedly detected the odor of burnt marijuana in a vehicle at Ilford and Prospect avenues. Police determined that both a 16-year-old male from North Arlington and the driver, a 17-year-old male from Lyndhurst, had smoked marijuana. The passenger was charged with being under the influence of marijuana and released to his parents. The driver was charged with having tinted windows, violating his provisional driver’s license for having four people in the car, DWI and being under the influence of marijuana. He was also released to his parents.

June 15, 2009

Bergen County Drunk Driving Crash Sends New Jersey Postal Employee to Hospital

by Jonathan F. Marshall

An allegedly drunk out-of-state driver caused a severe traffic accident in Closter, New Jersey, when he blew past a stop sign in his SUV and struck a sedan driven by a career postal employee, sending that man to the hospital with multiple injuries. The DWI traffic accident occurred today at West Street and Harrington Avenue where Kevin Greutert, 57, ended up being pinned in his vehicle until rescue workers could get him free and transported to Hackensack University Medical Center.

According to police reports, Patrick Martin Doyle, a resident of New York, was moving south on West Street in a white Nissan Pathfinder. As he approached the Harrington Avenue intersection, he apparently didn’t notice the stop sign and slammed into an Oldsmobile sedan being driven eastbound by Greutert, a resident of River Edge, NJ.

Greutert, a 30-year employee with the U.S. Postal Service, suffered a fractured pelvis and a collapsed lung, as well as a number of other minor injuries, according to Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor John Higgins, who also heads the county’s Fatal Accident Unit.

June 12, 2009

Drug DUI in New Jersey: Marijuana Possession in a Vehicle

by Jonathan F. Marshall

As a New Jersey resident, have you been issued a summons for possession of marijuana, or weed, in a motor vehicle? Or worse, been charged with drug DUI, or DWI, involving marijuana? With the likely increase in the legal use of medical marijuana in New Jersey and other states, it is conceivable that use of this drug may become more prevalent. Meanwhile, there is obviously a steady illegal trade in marijuana ongoing now throughout the Garden State. As a drug, the use of marijuana can affect a person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle.

If marijuana is found in your car, the police will usually issue a summons for possession in a motor vehicle. As experienced DWI and marijuana DUI defense attorneys, we at the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall are fully prepared to defend you or a loved one in court. We know drunk driving and DUI law inside and out, which is why you can turn to us when faced with a driving under the influence or possession charge.

Under New Jersey law, persons are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle while knowingly in possession of marijuana. You should know that this law (N.J.S.A. 39:4-49.1) is directed at the driver of a vehicle and does not apply to the other occupants. In order to prove a violation, the state must establish several facts:

June 11, 2009

New Jersey Drunk Driving Legislation Calls for Mandatory Ignition Interlocks for DWI Offenders

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Future convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol could result in the offender’s vehicle being fitted with a type of breathalyzer-ignition interlock device if drunk driving legislation in Trenton continues to move foward. The specter of ignition interlocks for nearly all DWI offenses has been raised this time with the help of three New Jersey assemblymen, Gordon Johnson, Nelson Albano and Patrick Diegnan.

Under the proposed legislation (A-3073), any person convicted of a second, third or subsequent DWI offense would be required to have an ignition interlock device installed on all vehicles they either lease or own, or any vehicle that the person would operate for work, or other purposes, during their driver’s license suspension period.

Even first offenders would be affected. If a person convicted of a first-time DWI had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.15 percent or higher, the law would require the offender to have the device installed on his or her vehicle. In addition, the current legislation calls for the device to remain installed for six to 12 months following restoration of the individual’s driver’s license. The courts would retain discretion as provided under current law to require installation of the device for all other first offenders.