Many potential clients call us for information about DWI, DWI defense, and the penalties for a DWI conviction. During some of these conversations, the potential client says, “but I’m guilty.” As Sam is quite fond of saying, we never let a client’s guilt get in the way of a good defense.
Let’s start with the basics here: you have constitutional rights. One of those rights is to have the lawyer of your choosing represent you. Another of those rights is to a trial, where the State must prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Another of Sam’s oft-used expressions is that it is not you who is on trial, but rather the State. In order for the State to meet its burden of proving you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it must have all its ducks in a row. The officer must have had a reasonable suspicion that you committed a motor vehicle offense before pulling you over. He must have had probable cause to arrest you before doing so. He must have informed you of your Miranda rights before questioning you at the station or in the car after your arrest. He must read you the Standard Statement before administering breath testing. He must observe you for 20 minutes before administering breath testing. The State must prove that the Alcotest was operable on the date of your breath testing, and just because it spat out a reading does not mean that there weren’t internal errors happening with the machine that neither you nor the officer knew about.
Now, that’s not an exhaustive list of all the things that the State has to prove or all the defenses that you may have, but unless you are a lawyer who practices this type of law for a living, as we are here, you probably didn’t know that the State had to demonstrate all of that for you to be found guilty. That’s why you need a lawyer, someone to examine the evidence in your case and look for holes in the State’s case that can be exploited to your benefit. You want someone with experience in the Municipal Courts of New Jersey. If you are lucky, then you don’t know much about this area of law. But we do. We have dedicated our entire practice to the defense of defending DWI, traffic and criminal offenses, and we will work tirelessly on your case to achieve the best result possible.