Unfortunately, no, you cannot. Prosecutors and judges here in New Jersey are not allowed to negotiate a lower charge with defendants or their attorneys. Thus if you are charged with DUI, you cannot cut a deal to reduce it to a lesser charge, like reckless driving.

So what do you do? Are you limited to rolling over and pleading guilty or going to trial? Not always. The one thing that prosecutors can do is reduce the charge if he or she is convinced that the case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

This means that having an attorney review your case carefully in order to find chinks in the state's armor is critical if you are charged with a DUI.

Convincing the Prosecutor to Downgrade Your DUI Charge

If a prosecutor has sufficient evidence to prove his case, then he won't budge. So what you have to do is show that certain key evidence might be thrown out if the matter went to trial. For example:

All of these things and more can come into play to force a prosecutor to back down because it could result in the breathalyzer reading not getting in to evidence. Without that reading, proving drunk driving becomes more difficult and less of a sure thing.

So What Do I Do?

Finding a chink in the armor of the State's case is critical to getting a downgrade to a lesser charge. You need the help of an experienced DUI attorney to help you look! So if you have been charged with drunk driving in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem or Cumberland County, please feel free to call me at 856-432-4113 or contact me through this site to schedule a free consultation.

If you are looking for more information on New Jersey's drunk driving law, then download my free book, How Much Trouble Am I In? A Guide to New Jersey Drunk Driving Law.

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Steven J. Richardson
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Bankruptcy, Collections, Student Loan, DUI and Traffic Court attorney in Woodbury, NJ.