What To Expect At Your DWI Trial In Monmouth County, NJ

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In this article, you will discover:

• What you should avoid saying during your DWI trial
• The potential outcomes of your DWI trial
• The most common mistakes defendants make during a DWI trial

What Should I Avoid Saying During The Trial?

The default answer regarding what you should or shouldn’t say at trial is this: Say nothing! The only exception would be answering administrative questions. For example, if the judge addresses you, the only appropriate question for you to answer would be: Are you here? What’s your mailing address? What’s your email address? What’s your phone number?

You have both a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and Sixth Amendment rights to tell your side of the story and to consult with counsel. You’ve hired an attorney for a reason. Beyond answering administrative questions, you should defer all other questions to your attorney regarding anything the prosecutor or judge needs to know. The prosecutor doesn’t need to ask about your driving record, what happened at the accident scene, or who’s in the courthouse with you. Those are questions for your attorney.

If you testify at trial at all, there will be time beforehand to prepare answers to questions and review what to expect if and when the prosecutor cross-examines you.

Most of the time, your attorney can get what you need for your defense by cross-examining the officers involved. On occasion, the attorney may recommend hiring an expert witness to provide other information that might constitute an affirmative defense.

What Are The Potential Outcomes Of My DWI Trial?

You’ll either be found guilty or not guilty. If you’re found not guilty, your charges are dismissed, and you face no penalties. Under New Jersey law, traffic offenses cannot be expunged from your record. But if you are found not guilty, there will be no record of your DWI arrest.

If you’re found guilty, the judge will mete out the appropriate punishment after stating what he or she considered in finding you guilty for the record. You’ll then receive the punishments mandated by the statute. For the most part, the range of punishments in New Jersey, between minimum and maximum penalties, is well-defined.

Being found not guilty of the DWI is the best possible result. If you are convicted of DWI, you may have some valuable legal issues to address in an appeal to a higher court.

What Steps Should I Take After The Trial Concludes, Regardless Of The Verdict?

What you do afterward depends on the verdict. If you’re found not guilty, celebrate! Just don’t get another DWI. If you lose the trial, your attorney can request a stay of execution of sentence pending an appeal. When you’re found guilty, the judge imposes the sentence by telling you what the punishment is. It may be revocation of your driver’s license, paying fines, or serving jail time. When you request a stay of execution of sentence, the judge can stay all or part of that sentence. If you are a multiple offender, the judge may allow you to stay out of jail, subject to conditions like putting an interlock device in your car so you can keep driving or hold off on taking your license altogether.

If you lose, you will have to discuss with your attorney how the trial went, what legal issues arose, and whether there are factual or legal issues worth arguing on appeal. You must also consider which judges are likely to hear the case on appeal to assess the prospects for success.

What Are The Most Common Mistakes Defendants Make During DWI Trials?

The most common mistake people charged with DWI make is testifying. In most cases, it is wiser to exercise your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, put the State to its proofs, and allow your attorney to answer the prosecution’s questions for you.

How Can I Contest The Validity Of The Initial Stop?

A common strategy in DWI cases is to file a Motion to Suppress evidence challenging the validity of the motor vehicle stop and your arrest. Stops and arrests are considered seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Because they are made without a warrant issued by a judge, there is a presumption that they are invalid. That gives you the right to challenge the validity of many seizures, including the stop, getting you out of the vehicle, and the arrest.

The state must prove they had a reasonable suspicion that a traffic offense was committed to justify the stop and get you out of the vehicle. They have to prove they had probable cause to make the arrest. Reasonable suspicion and probable cause come down to this: Based on information available to the officer at the time of the seizure, was there a reasonable basis on which to continue the investigation?

Once you get past the probable cause stage, the State’s burden of proof is higher and has to do with the elements of the alleged offense, not the preliminary questions. Ultimately, you may lose the Motion to Suppress but win the trial because of those differences in the questions and the differences in the burdens of proof.

Why Is Communication With My Attorney So Important?

You need to feel comfortable communicating with the attorney you’ve hired in order for your case to have the strongest chances of success and to make sure you are informed throughout your case. You don’t necessarily have to meet in person, but you do have to talk often.

Your attorney should explain the trial process to you so that you understand what is going on. The attorney should tell you what he or she knows, what they don’t know, and what the risks are. The attorney needs to give you as complete an understanding of the case as the police reports, video evidence, and chemical testing results will permit.

Your attorney must also ask you the right questions to:

• Understand the background of your case
• Decide whether other resources must be marshaled to mount a valid defense
• Assess your resources–e., determine who’s paying the legal retainer and expenses

What Role Does My Health Play In My DWI Case?

When your attorney considers the facts of the case, he or she must also consider your general health as well as respiratory, gastrointestinal, and dental health. You may have physiological conditions that affect your ability to do balance tests or can undermine the basic premises of breath testing, the state’s most common method to measure blood alcohol.

In New Jersey, DWI is defined in terms of blood alcohol content. This determination is made by testing breath to measure blood alcohol indirectly. The problem with this method is that if someone has gastroesophageal reflux disease or a hiatal hernia, it can lead to contamination of the sample, thereby rendering breath irrelevant for the purpose of measuring blood alcohol content. If you have either of these conditions, you may be drawing vapor from the stomach. That negates one of the basic premises of breath testing: that all vapor entering that breath testing instrument is coming from the lungs.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most underdiagnosed medical conditions. Most people self-medicate with antacids. However, If you’re medically diagnosed with GERD, it may be a defense to a breath test. A DWI attorney should know about this defense and be prepared to discuss it with you, if applicable.

The Role Of Driving History In Your DWI Case

Your attorney should ask about your driving record and whether you have prior convictions. Because DWI is classified as a traffic offense in New Jersey, criminal history is generally irrelevant unless your DWI involves something like vehicular assault, vehicular homicide, or child endangerment.

Most DWI clients are not people who commit crimes and have criminal histories. You may have simply had a lapse of judgment or may have been wrongly accused. To give yourself the best chance of success, it’s crucial to have an experienced DWI attorney guiding your case from start to finish.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

For more information on What to expect at a DUI trial in NJ, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (732) 218-9090 today.