This week the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that the Alcotest is still reliable as a device utilized in DWI prosecutions. Some New Jersey lawyers felt that the manufacturer and the State had not complied with a prior Supreme Court ruling, and such non- compliance rendered the Alcotest unreliable. The Supreme Court disagreed.
While the machine may be reliable, there are still defenses in that in any particular drunk driving case, the Alcotest may have been operated incorrectly. The recent decision does not creat new, more difficult burdens for defendants.
I have had the Alcotest suppressed, thrown out, in many DWI cases, because it was either operated incorrectly or it wasnt operating correctly at the time my client was required to take the breath tests. It takes a careful analysis to determine such defiencies.
The Order from the Supreme Court.