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Bucks County Divorce Attorneys > Blog > Criminal Law > Know Your Options in a New Jersey DUI

Know Your Options in a New Jersey DUI

A DUI is a serious charge, but not an incontestable one. If you are charged with a DUI in New Jersey, you should not try to handle the case yourself. Criminal defense attorneys can help challenge the process of your arrest and the testing of your blood alcohol level. Irregularities in these procedures could mean that your DUI may not hold up in court.

DUI and You

In New Jersey, a DUI is driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or above, regardless of whether your driving is actually impaired. This often means that the entire case against a DUI driver rests on the testing of blood alcohol level. Consent to submit to this test is automatic if you are driving a car; if you refuse a blood alcohol test, your license will be automatically suspended. On the other hand, the police are expected to test blood alcohol as close as possible to the time of driving. This means that they rely heavily on the Breathalyzer test, a means of testing blood alcohol level through the breath.

Breathalyzer tests are far from foolproof. The machine calculates blood alcohol level using a standard set of measures for how much alcohol transfers to a person’s breath relative to the amount in their blood. However, this measure is far from standard, and varies from person to person. It is therefore possible in some cases to argue for the inaccuracy of the test itself. Blood tests, which are much more accurate, are often not administered in time to prove with certainty that a driver was over the limit at the time of driving.

There are additional grounds on which a DUI can be challenged, including the right of the police to stop the car in the first place, since they are not permitted to pull cars over without cause. What all of these arguments have in common, however, is that they are not ones an individual can successfully make without the assistance of an experienced DUI defense attorney.

Fight your DUI in court

The penalties for a DUI are high. Even for a first offense, you may lose your license for up to a year. Fines may add up to thousands of dollars. For a repeat offense, lengthy license suspensions, increased fines and even jail time result. The criminal defense lawyers of Kardos, Rickles & Hand are experienced in fighting for their clients’ licenses. Contact us today for a consultation.

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