Pleasantville, NJ DWI and DUI Defense Lawyer

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People tend to be unforgiving of drivers charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving under the influence (DUI), even if those drivers are never convicted. Simply being arrested for a suspected DWI is enough to ruin someone’s reputation. If you find yourself in trouble for a supposed DWI, contact an attorney for help as soon as you can. There might be ways in which you can fight the charges and defend yourself.

In New Jersey, the legal limit for a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is .08%. However, people may be charged with lower BACs under certain conditions, such as if they are underage. Challenging the BAC measurements may be an effective way to fight your DWI if the measurements are faulty or were taken in violation of your rights. If you refuse to be chemically tested, you will not be doing yourself any favors, as chemical testing is legally required after being arrested. You should speak to an attorney about how to best defend yourself before making any huge decisions.

Get a confidential assessment of your case for free from our DWI and DUI defense lawyers by calling the Lombardo Law Group, LLC at (609) 418-4537.

How Drivers Are Charged with DWIs and DUIs in Pleasantville, NJ

Drivers may only be charged with a DWI after they are stopped by the police. How this stop occurs can vary greatly from case to case, and it is imperative that you talk to your lawyer about all the details of what happened. If the police did not gather enough evidence to support the charges, or perhaps they violated your rights in the process, our DWI and DUI defense lawyers can use this information as part of your defense.

Police must have “reasonable suspicion” to stop you. For example, if an officer notices a car weaving between lanes erratically, they may stop the driver for reckless driving. They cannot pull drivers over for arbitrary reasons or at random. In short, reasonable suspicion must be some articulable reason to pull a driver over.

Once the police have pulled someone over, they might notice signs of intoxication. Perhaps they can smell alcohol emanating from the car. Maybe the driver’s speech is slurred. Maybe there are open bottles in the car in plain view of the officers. All this together may constitute probable cause to arrest the driver.

After drivers are arrested, they are required by law, under N.J.S.A. § 39:4-50.2(a), to submit to chemical testing. This typically includes a breath test but might instead consist of blood or urine tests, depending on the circumstances. Drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least .08% may be charged with a DWI. However, this is not always necessary. A driver may be charged if they have a lower BAC if they are too intoxicated to drive safely.

It is also possible to be charged with a DWI if you have controlled substances in your system that make it unsafe to drive. This can include illicit substances and prescription medicine. Controlled substances do not involve BAC measurement but may still lead to charges.

What You Can Do to Challenge DWI and DUI Charges in Pleasantville, NJ

There is no single best way to handle a DWI case. Our defense strategies will depend on what kind of evidence the prosecutor plans to introduce in court and how the authorities obtained this evidence. Our team can help you find weak points in the case against you to hopefully raise doubt and help you avoid an unfair conviction. In other cases, the best we can hope for might be a reduction in penalties rather than a total acquittal.

First, we should explore the possibility of challenging your BAC results. Drivers are normally required to submit to chemical testing after being arrested for a DWI, and these results are often the lynchpin of the prosecutor’s case against you. If your BAC results are untrustworthy – perhaps the testing equipment is old and outdated or defective – or you were forced to submit to testing against your will, the BAC results might be undermined or even excluded from the case.

What Happens if You Refuse to Be Chemically Tested for a DWI or DUI in Pleasantville, NJ?

As discussed above, your BAC measurements are a very important detail in your DWI case. While it might be tempting to refuse to be tested, this strategy will only land you in more trouble. In New Jersey, according to N.J.S.A. § 39:4-50.2(a), drivers’ consent to chemical testing is implied simply by driving on public highways and roads. Put another way, if you are arrested for a DWI, you are legally required to allow the police to chemically test you and get a BAC measurement.

While refusal to submit to testing is illegal, people often still refuse. This is because, under subsection (e) of this law, the authorities are not permitted to force drivers into testing. They are instead required to inform drivers of the penalties for refusal, which may include a license suspension and the installation of an ignition interlock device.

If you refused testing, but the police forced you to comply, your BAC results might be unlawful and should not be used against you. Our team can help you file a motion to have that evidence excluded from the case, which may greatly weaken the case against you.

Alternatively, if you refused testing but were never informed of the penalties for refusal, we might have grounds to challenge the penalties for refusal to submit to chemical testing. If drivers are going to refuse testing, they must be informed of the consequences.