New Jersey Criminal Defense Blog

New Jersey State Senate President Richard J. Codey has proposed imposing stiffer penalties on repeat drunk driving offenders. According to this news report in the Daily Record, Codey filed a package of bills in the Legislature recently including one bill that would make it a fourth-degree crime to drive under the influence while already suspended for a DUI conviction. These bills basically call for stiffer penalties for repeat New Jersey DUI offenders who have a blood alcohol content of 0.20 or higher. In New Jersey, it is an offense for adults 21 or over to drive a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher.

The other aspect of Codey's proposal is that it would lead to jury trials only for those charged with DUI while already suspended for DUI. Convicted offenders would face between six months and a year in jail and face fines of up to $10,000, according to Codey's proposal. Another bill calls for mandatory jail time of at least 180 days for those convicted with a BAC of 0.20 if they had been convicted of another DUI in the past five years.

This is only a sampling of the proposed new NJ DUI laws. If these bills pass, DUI offenders in New Jersey are looking at an increased prospect of lengthy jail time and brutal fines with less of an opportunity for the case to go to a jury trial. So if you are innocent and have been charged with drunk driving, there is less of a chance that you could be acquitted by a jury because your case simply may not be going to trial.