DWI, DUI and refusal are serious offenses with life-changing consequences if convicted and found guilty. If you are caught operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating liquor, narcotic, or habit forming drug (legal or illegal) you could be charged with a DWI or DUI. If you are pulled over and the Lavallette Police Officer finds probable cause to believe you are under the influence they will ask you to submit to a breath test. If you do agree to comply, you will be taken to the police station and administered an Alcotest by a trained police officer.
Due to the sensitivity and accuracy of the device, the operator will observe you for a period of 20 minutes before asking you to breath into the device. During the observation period, the officer will look for anything that will skew results such as vomiting, burping, and coughing. This is to ensure that both the infrared and electro-chemical sensors take an accurate Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) reading. If for example you vomited or burped immediately prior to providing a sample, and had been drinking alcohol earlier in the day, the BAC result would likely be abnormally high from fresh alcohol residue from your stomach resurfacing to your mouth. Because the Alcotest® is such a sensitive device, its proper functioning can be critical to the State’s case against you. If the machine malfunctioned or improperly used in manner nonconforming with New Jersey law the State’s case against you will be severely hampered.
However, you may still be charged with a DWI or DUI even if no BAC reading was taken or the reading was below the statutory limit of 0.08%. The State can convict you of a first tier, first offense DWI or DUI if the officer believes that you were in fact impaired and incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. The officer can testify in court stating that he observed behavior or psychophysical indicators commonly associated with DWI or DUI. These indicators may be: glassy eyes, slurred words, staggering, and stumbling. The officer will also likely put you through a series of field sobriety tests to determine your impairment.
If you have been charged with a DWI, DUI, refusal, or motor vehicle violation in Lavallette, contact the experienced New Jersey DWI lawyers of Villani & DeLuca at 732-250-0448 for a free initial consultation.