I have always told my clients that, despite the expense, they owe it to themselves to hire an attorney to challenge a DUI charge. Although many defenses have been eliminated over the years, the state still has the burden of proof.
What the State Must Prove
The courts are also quite clear on what hurdles must be overcome in order to get the results of a breathalyzer test into evidence to prove that you were driving under the influence.
- the machines must be inspected and calibrated on a regular basis
- officers must be properly trained (and re-trained) on how to operate it,
- all of the instruments used in those calibration tests must also be certified as accurate, and
- the test results must be in a certain range of tolerance.
Results Can Be Thrown Out!
Nothing could prove this point more than the story in The Philadelphia Inquirer today about 1,147 breathalyzer test results being thrown out, resulting in all of the cases being reopened. In fact, the problem was brought to the attention of city officals by a DUI defense attorney!
In DUI cases, as in life, the devil is in the details, and those details need to be scrutinized. Many a DUI has been amended down to a careless or reckless driving offense because the breathalyzer results were found to be inadmissible.
So What to Do?
The moral of this story is that if you have been charged with drunk driving in southern New Jersey, 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.
