Appellate Division upholds DWI conviction based on a refusal
The Appellate Division recently upheld the conviction of a Hispanic man who alleged that he did not understand the instructions read to him regarding his rights and the requirement that he submit to a breathalyzer test to determine his blood alcohol content (BAC). The Appellate Division held that state law does not require the translation of the mandatory statement read to all drunk-driving suspects. The defendant, German Marquez, argued that the statement should have been read to him in Spanish.
The Court did recommend that the Motor Vehicle Commission consider having the mandatory DWI statement translated in Spanish and other languages or potentially have them recorded in other languages to be played for suspects who potentially do not understand English. As a result of this decision, the Appellate Division upheld the municipal court judge's decision which found the defendant guilty of careless driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), and refusal to submit to a breath test. The defendant will lose his license for seven (7) months based on these convictions. For additional information, please see the Asbury Park Press article entitled "Court: Breath-test rules read to motorists should also be in Spanish". Further, the entire Appellate Division opinion can be found on the New Jersey Judiciary website.
