New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog

May 15, 2013

New Jersey DWI News: NTSB Recommend Lowering Legal Blood-Alcohol Content from 0.08 to 0.05 Percent

Question: How do you increase the number of New Jersey drunken driving arrests almost overnight?
Answer: Just lower the legal limit for blood-alcohol concentration.

The simple Q&A above may seem like a heavy handed attempt at levity, but it actually does have its roots in reality. And, while the scenario of having an even tighter legal limit for drunk driving might seem a bit far-fetched at this very moment, it may be closer than anyone might expect if state legislatures like ours here in the Garden State take the latest recommendation from the federal government to heart.

According to news reports, safety analysts at the National Transportation Safety Board have just recommended a lowering of the legal blood-alcohol content (BAC) level from the current 0.08 percent to a suggested 0.05 percent. The recommended level of 0.05 percent represents a drastic reduction of more than one-third from the current legal limit. As New Jersey DWI defense attorneys, we can only surmise that a lower legal limit would result in a potential increase in drunk driving arrests, at least initially.

Human nature being what it is, it may be that many of the individuals who currently drink and drive likely would continue doing so regardless. But one must ask whether a lower legal limit would shock our society to the point of most everyone being more vigilant about how much they drink before operating a motor vehicle. For reference, approximately 10,000 people die each year in drunk-driving accidents nationwide, while about four million drivers reportedly admit to getting behind the wheel while intoxicated by beer, wine or hard liquor.
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May 13, 2013

Garden State Drunk Driving News: Two DWI-related Accidents Occur in Middletown, NJ, Minutes Apart

by Jonathan F. Marshall

One of the scariest things that a motorist might face when being charged with drunken driving here in New Jersey is providing a breath sample for the police to determine one’s level of intoxication, namely the person’s blood-alcohol concentration or BAC. Having one’s future hang in the balance based on the results provided by a machine can be quite unnerving when a person begins to realize the potential consequences of a DWI conviction.

As far as the operation of a breathalyzer machine, such as the Alcotest 7710, when an individual blows into the device, a measurement is recorded by the machine — this can result in a “valid” blood-alcohol content (BAC) reading or simply an error message. The BAC measurement is then included in what is referred to as an Alcohol Influence Report or AIR.

If there is one silver lining in this entire process it is that the AIR is not susceptible to human manipulation. This is because the AIR is generated automatically by the Alcotest 7710 after the subject has provided a sufficient breath sample. As New Jersey DWI-DUI defense attorneys, the lawyers on my staff know that all tests conducted on this machine are recorded and maintained for approximately six months.
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May 12, 2013

Drunken Boating Alert: New Jersey BUI Charges are as Serious as DWI on Land

by Jonathan F. Marshall

The warm weather is fast upon us these days and that can only mean one thing to the nautically-minded among us: It’s boating season in the Garden State. Up and down the Jersey Shore and throughout the state’s inland waterways we will be seeing more and more small craft heading out from dock in the coming weeks.

As New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyers, we do know that just as we landlubbers must concern ourselves with an increase in the number of anti-DWI police patrols and sobriety roadblocks during the warmer months, boaters must also consider that drinking and boating is as much out of vogue as that of the automotive set. Quite frankly, boating under the influence (BUI) or alcohol or prescription drugs (drug DUI) carries with it similar and just as costly penalties as DWI does on land.

This is not without justification, though many people who ply the waters in and around Jersey may find it hard to believe that piloting a boat while slightly tipsy could be as dangerous as driving drunk on a busy freeway; but the state of New Jersey takes safety on our waterways very seriously, and hence the penalties for BUI are just as heavy as for motorists.
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May 11, 2013

New Jersey DWI Update: Breath Test Refusal is a Chargeable and Potentially Costly Offense

by Jonathan F. Marshall

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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May 10, 2013

Ocean County DWI News: Click It or Ticket Law Enforcement Campaign Returns to New Jersey

by Jonathan F. Marshall

In a couple of weeks we’ll be heading into not just another big holiday weekend, but the traditional start of the summer. The Memorial Day weekend is one those national holidays that brings out the crowds to many popular venues throughout the Garden State. With the reopening of large portions of the Jersey Shore following the devastation that was Hurricane Sandy, no doubt many people will be celebrating.

But as we in the legal profession know — especially firms like ours that defend individuals charged with drunken driving — the holidays are also a time when state police and local law enforcement professionals amp up their anti-DWI road patrols and roadside sobriety checkpoints. This why areas throughout the state will likely have enhanced drunk driving enforcement in place as Memorial Day draws closer, with campaigns like the “Click It or Ticket,” and other DWI-DUI awareness efforts.

As skilled New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, we know that even for a first-time drunken driving offense it is better to fight than knuckle under and plead guilty. The reason is that even a one-time DWI conviction can result in some stiff fines and other penalties. This doesn’t even factor in the effect that an earlier conviction will have should a driver find himself charged again with DWI within a short period of time.
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May 8, 2013

Fighting a New Jersey DWI Charge; Be Logical, Work with a Lawyer and Build Your Case

by Jonathan F. Marshall

It’s a fair bet that anyone who has received a drunken driving summons following an arrest for impaired driving did not begin that particular day thinking that she would be charged with a DWI offense. But, these kinds of traffic-related offenses occur every day, day and night, all across the Garden State. As New Jersey drunk driving defense lawyers, I and my legal staff see dozens of potential clients every month with similar stories.

Providing a defense for drunken driving charges is what we do. As a former municipal prosecutor, I understand the approach that most prosecuting attorneys use to attain convictions. From the perspective of an outsider — such as a driver accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or impaired motor vehicle operation due to prescription meds — it may seem that defending oneself is monumental task. We can only say that this is not necessarily so.

Of course, the police who arrest a driver and the prosecutors who try the case against a DWI or drug DUI defendant may appear to be monolithic authorities who couldn’t possibly be successfully defeated, but this ignores the strength of the law which gives a defendant the right to challenge her accusers and present evidence in her defense. One thing to remember in the case of a DWI-DUI charge is never to assume that the situation is hopeless.
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May 6, 2013

Monmouth County DWI Update: All Drunk Driving Arrests are Serious; Some More Serious than Others

by Jonathan F. Marshall

By now, most people understand that drinking and driving is about as low as one can go on the scale of social acceptability. Yet it happens every day; another otherwise law-abiding citizen is stopped by police for a simple traffic infraction and subsequently arrested for operating her vehicle while intoxicated. These motorists are not always the social misfits that many officials make this group out to be; many are friends, neighbors and business acquaintances.

This is not to say that some drivers aren’t habitual DWI offenders, it’s just that many people charged with DWI or drug DUI are first-time offenders who may not have otherwise expected to be arrested and then lumped into the same category as the typical impaired motorist. As New Jersey drunken driving defense attorneys, I and my team of skilled legal professionals have decades of combined experience helping those individuals accused of driving under the influence of beer, wine or hard liquor.

As professional trial lawyers in the field of DWI defense, we are shocked at the number of people who apparently accept the inevitability of a DWI conviction without once calling a qualified drunk driving attorney for even some basic advice. This is a sad commentary, since we know that there are many facets to drunk driving law, most of which the average person has no inkling.
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May 5, 2013

New Jersey Motorist Arrested for Drunk Driving After Fleeing Scene of Monmouth County Traffic Accident

by Jonathan F. Marshall

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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May 2, 2013

Don’t Complicate a Garden State DWI Case by Combining Drunk Driving with a Traffic Accident

by Jonathan F. Marshall

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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April 30, 2013

Driver Charged with DUI, Reckless Driving after Car Reportedly Rams Police Cruiser in Middlesex County

by Jonathan F. Marshall

Being charged with drunken driving is no laughing matter, but heaping other offenses on top of a DWI really not desirable. Quite frankly, it is in most people’s best interests to take their fight to a court of law, rather than express anger — physically or verbally — toward the arresting officer. Of course, nobody is perfect and human nature can get the best of anyone during a tense and stressful situation such as a drunk driving arrest.

As New Jersey DWI defense attorneys, I and my staff understand the that tempers can run high during a traffic stop, especially if the accused motorist believes he was in the right. Having had a glass of wine or a beer prior to the police stop can lead to a possible arrest for driving while intoxicated, so it is best to try and keep one’s head during such instances. But there are even worse situations in which a driver might find himself.

We were reminded of this by a news article a while back in which a driver was accused of multiple traffic offenses, driving under the influence being one of them. But in this particular case, the motorist also allegedly hit an officer’s patrol car prior to the arrest. Now, we don’t have to tell most people that being involved in a traffic accident while allegedly drunk behind the wheel is not the world’s best scenario when it comes to defending a DWI charge.
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