Blog: DUI / DWI Charges

Having a DWI charge on your record can negatively affect many different areas of your life. A DWI can lead to jail time, probation, expensive fines, and even a permanent record that can impact your career and living options. Fortunately, if you are facing DWI charges in New Jersey, there may be options available to contest. What Does It Mean to Contest Charges? Contesting charges means that you are opposing them. It means that you...

New Changes to DUI Convictions in NJ In August 2019, Governor Phil Murphy enacted a new law that reduces the length of license suspension for first-time convictions of DWI/DUI in New Jersey. The suspension terms have been significantly reduced in favor of an expansion of the mandatory use of an ignition interlock device. The Governor relied upon the idea that the State needed to deter drunk driving without negatively impacting citizens’ ability to take care...

Important changes in New Jersey’s expungement statute went into effect as of October 1, 2018, which dramatically increase the number of people who are eligible for an expungement. Here are the highlights worth noting: You used to have to wait 10 years from the date you completed your sentence to expunge a felony conviction; now you only have to wait 6 years. Note, though, that you still have the same option for an “early pathway”...

If you have been charged with Driving While Intoxicated, you may already know that the State has the burden of proving each element of that offense beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a DWI conviction against you. Specifically, the DWI statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, requires the State to prove the following two elements: (1) you operated a motor vehicle; (2) while having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more, or while under the...

Governor Chris Christie is currently considering a Bill that will dramatically change DUI law in New Jersey. The Bill has already passed through both houses of the New Jersey Congress and proposes a change in the license suspension requirement following a conviction for DUI. Under current New Jersey law, a person with a BAC of 0.08% or greater, who operates a motor vehicle is considered to be driving under the influence. In addition to other...

New Jersey lawmakers have advanced a bill to allow all convicted drunken drivers the option of having ignition interlock devices installed in their cars as an alternative to license revocation. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended passage of S-385. The legislation would make an interlock device available to all persons convicted of drunk driving with the length to be determined by numerous factors including but not limited to the number of offenses and the blood-alcohol...

D.W.I. CONVICTION OVERTURNED Michael Mormando, an attorney at the law firm of Attorneys Hartman, Chartered, recently won a municipal appeal on behalf of his client’s D.W.I. case in the New Jersey Superior Court. The case was originally heard in municipal court, and then was heard in Superior Court on appeal. Michael won the appeal, and the evidence in the case has been suppressed. HISTORY OF THE CASE The defendant in the case (M.E.) had been traveling...