Our Ocean County DWI lawyers recently defended a client who had been arrested for DWI and several other motor vehicle after he crashed his car in Brick Township, New Jersey. Police showed up to the scene and suspected that our client had been drinking after speaking with him because they allegedly smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. However, given the circumstances and the fact there had been a serious accident an ambulance was called to transport our client to the hospital for treatment. Moreover, the police decided not to give our client any field sobriety tests at the scene because they were unsure if he had suffered any injuries from the accident. Once at the hospital, the police called in a telephonic warrant to a municipal judge to get a warrant to draw our client’s blood to see what his blood alcohol level was based on their belief he was drinking and driving. Based on the facts they were able to secure a warrant and draw his blood at the hospital which was then sent to the state laboratory to be tested.
After being treated at the hospital, he was released and given several summonses with a mandatory court to for his DWI charge. Shortly after this incident occurred, our law firm was contacted and retained by the client to fight his DWI case. From the beginning our client was very humble about the situation and knew he was lucky that he wasn’t more seriously injured or kill himself or somebody else. If it came down to it he was prepared to plead guilty to the DWI and accept responsibility but like most people he was hopeful that the charge could be downgraded or some of the serious penalties could be avoided. We assured him that we would do everything we could to help him and that the burden was on the prosecutor to prove the case against and him and that was a tall order given the facts. We immediately began our representation by requesting all the evidence surrounding this incident. In particular we were very interested in the evidence surrounding the blood draw including the telephonic warrant information and the results themselves. However, after several months it appeared the prosecutor could not produce this evidence and there was no doubt that the defendant was entitled to it under the law. Based on the state’s failure to produce the evidence we were able to successfully argue that based on the defendant’s speedy trial rights the court had to sign an order into place giving the state one final chance to produce the evidence, and after that was not produced within the time limit, the evidence was suppressed from trial. Once the blood results were barred from trial, the prosecutor had no choice but to dismiss the DWI charge against our client. If you or a loved one has been charged for a DWI or DUI in Ocean County, New Jersey and would like to learn more about how we may be able to help you like the case above, give us a call today to speak with a Brick NJ DWI lawyer who can field your questions and address any concerns.
State v. E.K. decided on June 22, 2017
