New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog

September 2, 2009

New Jersey DWI News: East Brunswick Police Go Undercover to Catch Underage Drinkers

Representing motorists charged with DWI, my staff of drunk driving defense lawyers cover much of the New Jersey area including Middlesex County. Recently, I noticed a news article that stated East Brunswick police would be working undercover in local liquor stores as part of a federally-funded effort to catch underage drinkers.

If any of those youngsters gets in a car and drives under the influence of alcohol, the police can also charge them with underage DWI. When is comes to underage drunk driving, New Jersey has a zero-tolerance policy. While the legal limit for blood-alcohol content (BAC) in an adult driver is 0.08 percent, New Jersey statute N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.14 makes it illegal for an individual under 21 years of age to have any alcohol in their system while operating a motor vehicle.

Although it is illegal for anyone under 21 to have any trace of alcohol in their system, the monetary penalties and suspension period for underage driving while intoxicated are less severe than for adults facing similar charges. An underage drinking and driving conviction in New Jersey can involve as little as 30 days license suspension, however the minimum suspension for an adult DWI is 90 days.

August 30, 2009

Somerset County Driver Arrested for Drunk Driving-related Injury Accident on Local Parkway

by Jonathan F. Marshall

A three-car wreck on Dukes Parkway in Hillsborough was allegedly caused by a local drunk driver in late August. Officers from the Hillsborough Police Department arrived at the scene shortly following the accident to find three damaged vehicles and several injured passengers. As a New Jersey DWI defense attorney, one of my first questions to any client accused of causing an accident as a result of drunk driving is, “Were there any injuries?” While an injury accident may complicate a driving while intoxicated defense, my office has vast experience with cases just like this one.

The driver charged in this particular incident is a 26-year-old woman from the Hillsborough area. According to reports, Erin Markakis was allegedly intoxicated when she failed to maintain her lane on Dukes Parkway West. The Lexus that she was driving hit a Toyota head-on, which then plowed into a nearby BMW. The accident happened during rush hour between Route 206 and Roycefield Road in Hillsborough.

According to the Somerset County prosecutor, and Hillsborough police chief, Markakis was driving eastbound on Dukes Parkway West in a 2002 Lexus RX300, while another driver, Emilyfee Yap, also a resident of Hillsborough, was heading west on same road in a 2001 Toyota Highlander. Behind the Toyota was a third vehicle driven by Penny Sweeney.

August 28, 2009

Labor Day DWI Report: Drunk Driving Sobriety Checkpoint in Mercer County this Friday

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Drivers traveling near Lawrence Township in Mercer County this Friday evening should be aware that a drunk driving sobriety roadblock will be operating along Brunswick Pike until the early morning hours of Saturday, August 29. This DWI checkpoint is part of a state and nationwide campaign to identify and arrest individuals operating motor vehicles while under the influence of alcohol.

The initiative, known as “Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” is targeting the roadways of New Jersey in an effort to pick up motorists driving with an illegal amount of alcohol in their system. The entire nationwide campaign is running from August 21 to September 7, through the Labor Day holiday.

As part of this campaign, the Lawrence Township Police Department has received funding through the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. Law enforcement officers will be setting up a checkpoint on Brunswick Pike just south of Franklin Corner Road starting around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, August 28. The DWI roadblock will be in operation until 4 a.m. Saturday.

August 25, 2009

North Bergen, NJ, Police Arrest Bellville Man for DWI Injury Accident

by Jonathan F. Marshall

A recent accident at a roadway construction site in North Bergen was allegedly caused by a drunk driver who injured a construction worker at the site and also hurt a pregnant woman in another vehicle. As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, my office has represented numerous clients involved in similar accidents over the years. As an experienced attorney and former municipal prosecutor, I know how to defend such cases. In this instance, the driver was charged by police with several offenses including driving while intoxicated.

Reports indicate that while construction workers were changing a signal arrow board outside of the construction area near 91st Street, Angelo Lopez of Belleville, NJ, who was driving north on Tonnelle Avenue, appeared to try and go around a green 1995 Honda, but hit the car instead. According to witnesses, the 35-year-old driver was reportedly weaving in and out of traffic in his 2004 Audi sedan prior to the accident at the construction site.

Lopez allegedly hit the Honda, driven by an 8-month pregnant woman, forcing the woman’s car off the roadway and into one of the construction workers, causing the man to be forced to the ground, police said. The worker was treated for minor injuries to his leg. Both the pregnant woman and the construction worker were taken to Palisades Medical Center.

August 21, 2009

NJ DWI Update: Morris County Police to Step Up Drunk Driving Patrols

by Jonathan F. Marshall

According to news reports, nearly two dozen Morris County police departments will begin to crack down on drunk drivers starting today. The concentrated effort focused on intoxicated drivers, which runs through Labor Day, is part of an annual national campaign known as “Over the Limit, Under Arrest.” As an experienced New Jersey DWI defense attorney, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that a percentage of the arrests made during this initiative will involve drivers who do not deserve a drunk driving conviction on their record.

In Morris County, 21 individual police departments will be participating, including Butler, Chester Township, Jefferson, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham, Mount Olive, Netcong, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Washington Township and eight others.

As part of this national effort, which has continued annually since 1999, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety provides federally-funded grants in the amount of $6,000 to each participating police agency for the two-week program.

August 19, 2009

DWI News: Drunk Driving Patrols, Sobriety Checkpoints Scheduled across New Jersey for Next Couple Weeks

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Drivers in Monmouth and Essex Counties, along with many other parts of New Jersey, will see numerous Drunk driving patrols over the coming weeks. DWI sobriety checkpoints throughout the Garden State will also be evident during the days leading up to the coming Labor Day holiday weekend. These checkpoints, also known as sobriety roadblocks, are commonly used by law enforcement as one way to decrease the number of alcohol-related auto accidents and deaths on the state’s highways and surface streets.

As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, my office alerts motorists to these checkpoints due to the number of driving while intoxicated arrests in these areas. By law, state, county and municipal arms of law enforcement can only set up checkpoints in locations that have a statistically high incidence of people driving under the influence of alcohol.

Standard procedure at these checkpoints includes police giving field sobriety tests to drivers that appear to be intoxicated. If the officer is satisfied that an individual operating a vehicle is possibly drunk, a breath test will usually be administered to determine the blood alcohol content (BAC) of that driver.

August 15, 2009

Plainfield Man Arrested for Drunk Driving in Middlesex County, Charged with Child Endangerment

by Jonathan F. Marshall

If there is one thing I remind people arrested for DWI and other drunk driving violations, don’t make things worse by pulling another person in on your mistake. Of course, an adult is fully capable of deciding if he wants to ride with someone who is obviously intoxicated, but a child, well that’s a different story. As a New Jersey drunk driving lawyer, I and my staff of experienced DWI attorneys have represented clients charged with a wide range of offenses in addition to driving under the influence of alcohol, or prescription or illegal drug DUI.

A recent news article is an example of the trouble that a driver can get into when not considering the safety of his or her passengers. Apparently a 22-year-old Plainfield man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after crashing his vehicle in the driveway of a Dunellen home late in the evening of August 3.

According to police, Stanley Brown of 127 Prospect Avenue was arrested by borough police after he allegedly crashed a 1994 Nissan Maxima along the driveway as he was trying to leave the locale around 11 p.m. Officers were called to the scene by concerned neighbors, who told officers that the man had fled the vehicle and was in the backyard of the house.

According to reports, the police found a five-year-old boy sitting on the back seat of the car, but not in a child-restraint seat. The child was identified as the son of Brown’s girlfriend. Officers then searched and found the man in the backyard, where they also detected the odor of alcohol on his breath.

After having the man take a series of field sobriety tests, which he allegedly failed, police administered a breathalyzer test and found the man’s blood alcohol content (BAC) to be 0.19 percent — double the legal limit in New Jersey. Brown was then arrested and transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.

Police said that child’s condition was evaluated by the Dunellen First Aid Squad and was determined to be unhurt. The boy was returned to the custody of his mother, and Brown was also charged with child endangerment.
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August 14, 2009

Drunk Driving Arrest News: New Jersey Police Blotter

by Jonathan F. Marshall

South Orange — An Essex County, New Jersey, resident was stopped by police around 1:30 a.m. on August 7 when and officer saw a car apparently speeding on Sloan Street, after which it poorly negotiated a left turn onto South Orange Avenue. After making the traffic stop, other officers arrived at the scene where they detected the scent of alcohol on the driver’s breath indicating that the man was probably drunk. A passenger in the front seat also appeared to be intoxicated. Police administered a field sobriety test to the 43-year-old Maplewood resident, which he failed. The man became upset following the test. Police arrested him for DWI, took him into custody and impounded his vehicle.

South Orange — On August 8, in the early morning hours, a patrolman noticed a vehicle parked in front of 67 South Orange Avenue with the motor running, headlights burning and right-front tire completely flat. On closer inspection, the officer could see that the 28-year-old Greenbrook, NJ, resident appeared to be sleeping. The officer attempted to awaken the man, who became somewhat responsive after several minutes. Interviewing the conscious driver, the police officer could detect the odor of alcohol on the man’s breath. Other officers were called to the scene and the man was removed from the vehicle and given several field sobriety tests, all of which he failed. Police arrested the man and transported him to headquarters where a test for blood alcohol content (BAC) showed a reading of 0.13 percent.

Madison — A 49-year-old Irvington resident was stopped for careless driving by local police officers late in the evening of July 31. During the traffic stop, officers noticed that she was inebriated, after which she was charged with drunk driving and later released to a family member.

August 13, 2009

Pedestrian Injured by Alleged Drunk Driver in Union County, NJ, DWI Traffic Accident

by Jonathan F. Marshall

A 25-year-old resident of Clark, NJ, was hit in a Westfield crosswalk by an allegedly drunk driver last week. According to reports, Gina Marotta was hit by a car driven by a Union County woman as she crossed the street outside of Lord & Taylor. As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, I have great sympathy for those injured as a result of drunk driving accidents. At the same time, I know that everyone deserves to have their say in a court of law. Driving under the influence of alcohol or even prescription drugs can cause impaired judgment and result in a DUI arrest, or worse.

The news reports regarding this incident indicate that 55-year-old Leslie Boughner hit Marotta around noon on August 5 on North Avenue as the woman was returning to her job at the Lord & Taylor department store. Police officers issued Boughner a summons for DWI and also took a blood sample to check the woman’s blood-alcohol content (BAC).

According to reports, Marotta suffered a broken arm, broken leg and head injuries. Emergency responders transported her to University Hospital in Newark, where she underwent surgery at the hospital’s trauma center.

At the time of the news reports, the Union County prosecutor’s office had not received any contact from the Westfield police regarding the case. Usually, the prosecutor’s office will be contacted by police whenever there is an incident involving hit and run cases or fatal pedestrian accidents, neither of which is the case in this instance Westfield. Depending on the victim’s injuries and her recovery, not to mention the driver’s blood test, it’s possible that the case could be handled in municipal court.
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August 12, 2009

New Jersey DWI News: Poll Shows Majority Approves of In-car Breathalyzer for Convicted Drunk Drivers

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Having represented hundreds of NJ residents arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, I know what drivers accused of DWI are up against. As an experienced New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyer and former municipal prosecutor, I also have the background to understand how to successfully defend many driving while intoxicated cases. What I can’t change is the public’s opinion of convicted drunk driving offenders.

That became quite evident the other day when I noticed the results of a survey recently conducted by the American Automobile Association’s Mid-Atlantic region. More than 60 percent of the respondents to the AAA Mid-Atlantic Web poll voted in favor of installing a mandatory breathalyzer ignition interlock on the vehicle of any convicted DWI offender.

This type of interlock device requires the driver to blow into a device not unlike the Alcotest breath testing machine used by the New Jersey State Police as well as other law enforcement agencies across the Garden State. If the device detects that the driver’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) is above 0.05 percent the vehicle cannot be started.