New Jersey Supreme Court Greenlights Alcotest
The verdict came in March 17: The New Jersey Supreme Court has approved the use of the new Alcotest 7110 breath-testing device -- as long as law enforcement and the manufacturer follow certain procedures. Under the court's decision, law enforcement must limit prosecutions to those who test within a certain accuracy range and check Alcotest's accuracy twice a year. The manufacturer must provide reasonably-priced training on using Alcotest to DWI defense attorneys and expert witnesses, and it must notify the public and the State Bar of New Jersey before changing the device.
The decision takes the device and many DWI defendants out of legal limbo. A group of DWI lawyers challenged Alcotest's accuracy in 2006, suspending the cases of thousands of DWI defendants and halting the device's rollout in four New Jersey counties. Now that the decision is in, local prosecutors and defense attorneys will work through their cases one by one, throwing out those that don't meet the Supreme Court's guidelines and finishing the others.
As New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, we're pleased that clients can move on, but we still have doubts about Alcotest. For example, the court-appointed special master, retired New Jersey appellate judge Michael Patrick King, strongly recommended that Alcotest should also be retrofitted with a breath temperature sensor. That's because a one-degree variation in breath temperature can falsely inflate the person's BAC by 6.57%. The state Supreme Court rejected that recommendation, perhaps because retrofitting or redesigning the machines would have cost $1,300 to $1,600 each.
But without that retrofit, the State of New Jersey runs the risk of convicting people who are legally and factually innocent of driving while intoxicated. Because a DWI conviction in New Jersey comes with an immediate and automatic driver's license suspension, heavy penalties and sky-high insurance rate hikes, that's a big risk to take. We know from long experience defending DWI cases in New Jersey that a DWI charge can have a profoundly negative effect on the defendant's job, social life and financial security.
Lependorf & Silverstein can help. Call or e-mail us today for help with any New Jersey DWI or criminal case.
