You are driving along, perhaps aware of the fact that you have had more to drink than you should have, when suddenly there are police lights behind you. The next thing you know, you are being handcuffed, taken to the police station, fingerprinted, photographed, and sitting in a cell until someone bails you out or you are released the next morning. Your next thought will probably be, “what’s next?”
What’s next from a legal standpoint is that you will be assigned a court date, at which you will be expected to plead not guilty or guilty. If you plead not guilty, a trial date shall be set, where you will need to argue that you were not drunk or that some legal justification for your actions applied. If you plead guilty, this is what is may be next:
- Las multas
- Libertad condicional
- The suspension of your driver’s license
- The installation of an ignition interlock device on your vehicle
- Community service
- Jail time
Hopefully, what is next for you is that you will call an attorney. Your lawyer will thoroughly evaluate the facts of your case and determine whether any legal defenses apply. For example, if the officer lacked the legal justification to stop you, any evidence that was gathered after the stop could be thrown out. Perhaps you have a medical condition like GERD that has been shown to increase the amount of mouth alcohol in a person’s mouth, making breath test results inaccurate. Another possibility is that the young police officer that pulled you over lacked the experience and training required to determine whether or not you were drunk.
The list of potential defenses goes on and on. If there are no defenses available, there are some cases in which your lawyer may be able to negotiate a plea bargain that will avoid the most damaging consequences associated with a DWI case in New Jersey.
Call a New Jersey DWI Defense Attorney Today to Protect Your Legal Rights
A DWI conviction has the potential to negatively impact nearly every aspect of your life, from your financial situation to your professional reputation. For this reason, it is extremely important to retain an attorney who will defend your rights. New Jersey criminal defense lawyer Robert DePersia has more than 25 years of experience practicing law and is intimately familiar with New Jersey drunk driving laws. To schedule a free consultation, call our office today at 856-795-9688 or send us an email through our online contact form.
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