Edison DWI Lawyers
- Shane & White:
One
of the most serious traffic violations is Driving While Intoxicated
(DWI) and/or Driving Under the Influence (DUI). DWI/DUI is a serious
offense in New Jersey, as well as in every state in the United States.
The Court must impose mandatory license suspensions, fines, surcharges
and in certain cases, jail. The Division of Motor Vehicles must also
impose a mandatory insurance surcharge from $3,000 to $3,500. A
permanent record of the DWI conviction is also entered on the Drivers
Abstract maintained by the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles.
Penalties differ depending upon whether the offense is a first, second
or subsequent offense.
N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 Driving while intoxicated
(a) Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, a person who operates a motor vehicle while under the influence
of intoxicating liquor, narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit-producing
drug, or operates a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of
0.08% or more by weight of alcohol in the defendant's blood or permits another person who is under the influence
of intoxicating liquor, narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit-producing
drug to operate a motor vehicle owned by him or in his custody or
control or permits another to operate a motor vehicle with a blood
alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more by weight of alcohol in the defendant's blood shall be subject:
(1) For the first offense:
(i) if the person's blood alcohol concentration is
0.08% or higher but less than 0.10%, or the person operates a motor
vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, or the person
permits another person who is under the influence of intoxicating
liquor to operate a motor vehicle owned by him or in his custody or
control or permits another person with a blood alcohol concentration of
0.08% or higher but less than 0.10% to operate a motor vehicle, to a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $400 and a period of detainment of not less than 12 hours nor more than 48 hours
spent during two consecutive days of not less than six hours each day
and served as prescribed by the program requirements of the Intoxicated
Driver Resource Centers established under subsection (f) of this
section and, in the discretion of the court, a term of
imprisonment of not more than 30 days and shall forthwith forfeit his
right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this State for a
period of three months;
(ii) if the person's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10% or higher,
or the person operates a motor vehicle while under the influence of
narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit-producing drug, or the person permits another person who is under the influence
of narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit-producing drug to operate a motor
vehicle owned by him or in his custody or control, or permits another
person with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10% or more to operate a
motor vehicle, to a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $500 and a period of detainment of not less than 12 hours nor more than 48 hours
spent during two consecutive days of not less than six hours each day
and served as prescribed by the program requirements of the Intoxicated
Driver Resource Centers established under subsection (f) of this
section and, in the discretion of the court, a term of imprisonment of
not more than 30 days and shall forthwith forfeit his right to operate
a motor vehicle over the highways of this State for a period of not
less than seven months nor more than one year;
(iii) For a first offense, a person also shall be subject to the provisions of P.L.1999, c. 417 (C.39:4-50.16 et al.).
(2) For a second violation:
((i) a person shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $1,000.00, and shall be ordered by the court to perform community service for a period of 30 days, which shall
be of such form and on such terms as the court shall deem appropriate
under the circumstances, and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a
term of not less than 48 consecutive hours, which shall not be
suspended or served on probation, nor more than 90 days, and shall forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this State for a period of two years upon conviction,
and, after the expiration of said period, he may make application to
the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission for
a license to operate a motor vehicle, which application may be granted at the discretion of the chief administrator, consistent with subsection (b) of this section. For a second violation, a person also shall be required to install an ignition interlock device
under the provisions of P.L.1999, c. 417 (C.39:4-50.16 et al.) or shall
have his registration certificate and registration plates revoked for
two years under the provisions of section 2 of P.L.1995, c. 286
(C.39:3-40.1).
(3) For a third or subsequent violation:
(i) a person shall be subject to a fine of $1,000.00, and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 180 days,
except that the court may lower such term for each day, not exceeding
90 days, served performing community service in such form and on such
terms as the court shall deem appropriate under the circumstances and
shall thereafter forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this State for 10 years. For a third or subsequent violation, a person also shall be required to install an ignition interlock device under the provisions of P.L.1999, c. 417 (C.39:4-50.16 et al.) or shall have his registration certificate and registration plates revoked for 10 years under the provisions of section 2 of P.L.1995, c. 286 (C.39:3-40.1).
Out-of-state Convictions
A conviction of a violation of a law of a substantially similar nature
in another jurisdiction, regardless of whether that jurisdiction is a
signatory to the Interstate Driver License Compact pursuant to
P.L.1966, c. 73 (C.39:5D-1 et seq.), shall constitute a prior
conviction under this subsection unless the defendant can demonstrate
by clear and convincing evidence that the conviction in the other
jurisdiction was based exclusively upon a violation of a proscribed
blood alcohol concentration of less than 0.08%.
Definition of Subsequent Convictions
A person who has been convicted of a previous violation of this section
need not be charged as a second or subsequent offender in the complaint
made against him in order to render him liable to the punishment
imposed by this section on a second or subsequent offender, but if the
second offense occurs
more than 10 years after the first offense, the court shall treat the
second conviction as a first offense for sentencing purposes and if a
third offense occurs more than 10 years after the second offense, the
court shall treat the third conviction as a second offense for
sentencing purposes.
N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.13. Operation of Commercial Motor Vehicle While Under Influence of Alcohol or Controlled Substance
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, a person shall not operate a commercial motor vehicle in this
State with an alcohol concentration of 0.04% or more, or while under
the influence of a controlled substance.
N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.24. Consent to taking samples of breath; record of test;
independent test; prohibition of use of force; refusal to submit to test; penalties
- A person who operates a commercial motor vehicle on a public road,
street, or highway, or quasi-public area in this State, shall be deemed
to have given his consent to the taking of samples of his breath for
the purposes of making chemical tests to determine alcohol
concentration; provided, however, that the taking of samples shall be
made in accordance with the provisions of this act and at the request
of a police officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the
person has been operating a commercial motor vehicle with an alcohol
concentration of 0.04% or more.
- A record of the taking of such a sample, disclosing the date and
time thereof, as well as the result of a chemical test, shall be made
and a copy thereof, upon request, shall be furnished or made available
to the person so tested.
- In addition to the samples taken and tests made at the direction
of a police officer hereunder, the person tested shall be permitted to
have such samples taken and chemical tests of his breath, urine, or
blood made by a person or physician of his own selection.
- The police officer shall inform the person tested of his rights under subsections b. and c. of this section.
- No chemical test, as provided in this section, or specimen
necessary thereto, may be made or taken forcibly and against physical
resistance thereto by the defendant. The police officer shall, however,
inform the person arrested of the consequences of refusing to submit to
such test including the penalties under section 12 of this act. A
standard statement, prepared by the director, shall be read by the
police officer to the person.
- The court shall revoke for six months the right to operate any
motor vehicle of any person who, after being arrested for a violation
of section 5 of this act, shall refuse to submit to the chemical test
provided for in this section when requested to do so, unless the
refusal was in connection with a subsequent offense under this section,
section 5 of this act, R.S. 39:4- 50 or section 2 of P.L.1981, c. 512
(C. 39:4-50.4a), in which case the revocation period shall be for 2
years. In addition, a court shall impose the penalties provided in
section 12 of this act.
The court shall determine by a preponderance of the
evidence whether the arresting officer had probable cause to believe
that the person had been operating or was in actual physical control of
a commercial motor vehicle on the public highways or quasi-public areas
of this State with an alcohol concentration at 0.04% or more, whether
the person was placed under arrest, whether he refused to submit to the
test upon request of the officer, and if these elements of the
violation are not established, no conviction shall issue. In addition
to any other requirements provided by law, a person whose driving
privilege is revoked for refusing to submit to a chemical test shall
satisfy the requirements of a program of alcohol education or
rehabilitation pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 39:4-50. The
revocation shall be independent of any revocation imposed by virtue of
a conviction under the provisions of R.S. 39:4-50 or section 12 of this
act.
In addition to imposing a revocation under this subsection, a court shall impose a fine of not less than $250 or more than $500.
- Levinson, Axelrod, Wheaton,
Grayzel, Caulfield, Marcolus & Dunn P.C.:
DWI is a serious motor vehicle offense carrying substantial
penalties, surcharges, insurance surcharges, and loss of driving
privileges, A lawyer experienced in this area of the law can obtain
all the appropriate records of your arrest and breathalyzer test
results.
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