What Would Cause Someone To Be Pulled Over And Charged With A DUI?

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Do People Pulled Over For DWI Have Extremely High BAC Levels Or Are They Closer To The Legal Limit?

No. A very few clients are the stereotype. People think that drunk driving is not punished seriously enough and they forget that when there are more serious consequences, such as someone being injured or killed, there are felony charges associated with that; a vehicular assault charge can land a person in state prison for between three and five years. A vehicular homicide charge can land the person in prison for between five to twenty years. So, depending on the severity of the case, consequences can be quite significant. Along with the felony charge, a vehicular assault, a vehicular homicide becomes the underlying traffic offense of DWI for which the person is also punished.

However, most people are ordinary, middle class people who have maybe gone out to a dinner or to a wedding or something like that and maybe had a little bit more to drink than they might otherwise be accustomed to. As a result, the recidivism rate for DWI is only about 12% to 13%, because for most people who commit the offense, it is a one-time event. They do have to get convicted first.

What Conditions Need To Be Met For Someone To Be Charged With A DWI?

There are a number of conditions that the state has to satisfy before they can get that conviction and that is where a lawyer comes in. The first hurdle that the state has to overcome is they have to establish a reasonable suspicion that the person committed a traffic offense. This is not a very high hurdle because it is only a reasonable suspicion. They do not have to necessarily be able to prove that a person committed a traffic offense, only that there was a reasonable suspicion that the person committed it.

The next step is to establish something called Probable Cause to arrest. Probable cause to arrest means that the police, at the time, had enough information to justify continuing their investigation by taking the person into custody and having them submit a breath sample. In New Jersey, breath samples make up the evidence in most DUI cases. You do have blood cases where there are accidents and things like that where people are incapacitated, but the vast majority involves breath testing.

Police use things like a person’s appearance to establish probable cause. Typically, you will see a cop write about bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcoholic beverage on person’s breath, or maybe some unsteadiness. They will also talk about admissions because people generally do not understand their constitutional rights and will typically answer an officer’s question. Then, the officer will have the person do something called Field Sobriety Tests.

A Number Of Reasons Can Cause Someone To Be Pulled Over And Charged With A DUI. For details. Call the law office of New Jersey DWI Attorney John Menzel, J.D. for an Initial Consultation at (732) 218-9090 and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.