New Jersey Criminal Defense Journal : New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Alexander M. Iler Law Firm : Monmouth County NJ DWI & Drunk Driving Defense

Our firm has been retained to represent a Defendant who was charged with underage possession of alcohol when police broke up a party at Monmouth University over the weekend. Police broke up a party at the Whalepond Road home and issued summonses for underage drinking to more than a half-dozen people.

Police allegedly received a call about a loud party at the home around 12:50 a.m. last Friday and determined that three 19-year-old Monmouth University students who rented the home were hosting a party. Police allegedly found two beer kegs, a small bag of marijuana, a digital scale, and marijuana pipes and bongs. The three tenants were charged with providing alcoholic beverages to minors and possession of drug paraphernalia. For additional information, see the Asbury Park Press article entitled "Nine people given underage drinking summonses in Ocean Twp".

It is essential for young people like this to avoid a permanent criminal charge on their record. This can be done in a variety of ways by an experienced criminal defense lawyer, such as a conditional discharge or a downgrade to a municipal or township ordinance.

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Police say a Hazlet man tried to run from the police twice during the course of his arrest, once in his vehicle and the second time at police headquarters. Middletown police spotted the driver speeding at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday morning and attempted to stop the vehicle. Instead, the defendant allegedly sped away but failed to negotiate a turn properly and ran into several garbage cans on the road. The driver eventually stopped the vehicle and was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI), eluding, and criminal mischief. Then, when police took him to the station to provide a breath sample the defendant refused, became combative, and tried to run away from police at the station. This led to an additional charge of attempting to escape police custody.

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Another tragic DWI story, this time in Edison, New Jersey. A New Jersey man was sentenced recently to twelve (12) years in prison for two counts of vehicular homicide following a drunk driving crash that killed his two friends. The 25-year-old driver has a blood alcohol content (BAC) of more than twice the legal limit and was driving his Acura over 90 mph when his car hit a utlility pole in Edison,  New Jersey in July 2008. His two roommates, who were passengers in the vehicle, died in the crash. They were 24 years old. Both were graduate engineering students at Rutgers University. The driver, who also graduated from Rutgers, said he and his friends has just finished a bottle of Jack Daniels and were on their way to buy another bottle.

This is a very tragic story for the defendant and the victims. It is always important to remember that individuals who drive drunk are not only facing license suspension and fines but also significant jail time if they are involved in an accident and others are injured.

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Police arrested a 35-year-old man and charged him with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and criminal mischief after allegedly throwing large rocks at people and vehicles during a brawl in Aberdeen earlier this week. At approximately 4 p.m. this past Monday, police responded to the scene after receiving a call about a large fight in the neighborhood. Police arrived and found several people in the street, yelling and chasing each other. After an investigation, police determined this defendant had been throwing large rocks at people during the fight. The defendant was arrested and sent to the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold on $7,500.00 bail.

For additional information on this daytime brawl in Aberdeen, see the Asbury Park Press article.

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A New Jersey man was recently sentenced to 4.5 years in state prison after his 16th drunk driving conviction. The defendant is a 40-year-old East Rutherford man whose driver's license has been suspended 78 times. Based on this last conviction, the defendant must, in addition to the prison sentence, pay $9,000.00 in fines and has his license suspended for 39 years. The defendant plead guilty in June to a DWI crash which happened in April. At the sentencing, the defendant also plead guilty to leaving the scene of the accident of the April crash in which his SUV collided head on with a man and his four-year-old daughter. Fortunately, they escaped injury.

I must say, I have never heard of anyone being conviction of drunk driving 16 times. Further, this defendant is extremely lucky that the driver and passenger of the other vehicle were not injured. If they were injured, he would be facing additional prison time for aggravated assault or vehicular homicide depending on the extent of their injuries.

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A Manasquan man was indicted this week for allegedly robbing a Toms River bank in July of this year. An Ocean County grand jury indicted the defendant for second degree unarmed robbery and third degree theft for the July 21 robbery of the Kearny Federal Savings Bank in Toms River. According to the indictment, the defendant put the bank teller in immediate fear of bodily injury to steal an amount in excess of $500. Police said the robber entered the bank around noon and indicated to the clerk that he had a weapon, although no weapon was shown. The robber fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money from the robbery. Toms River police, with the assistance of Seaside Heights P.D., arrested the defendant in Seaside Heights later the same day. The defendant has been incarcerated at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River since then, unable to post the $50,000 bail amount set by the Ocean County Superior Court. The defendant is facing up to 15 years in prison based on these two charges.

For additional information, see the Asbury Park press article. A robbery charge in New Jersey is governed by N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 which provides in pertinent part:

a. Robbery defined. A person is guilty of robbery if, in the course of committing a theft, he:

(1) Inflicts bodily injury or uses force upon another; or

(2) Threatens another with or purposely puts him in fear of immediate bodily injury; or

(3) Commits or threatens immediately to commit any crime of the first or second degree.

An act shall be deemed to be included in the phrase "in the course of committing a theft" if it occurs in an attempt to commit theft or in immediate flight after the attempt or commission.

b. Grading. Robbery is a crime of the second degree, except that it is a crime of the first degree if in the course of committing the theft the actor attempts to kill anyone, or purposely inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury, or is armed with, or uses or threatens the immediate use of a deadly weapon.

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Police have charged a 17-year-old boy with driving while intoxicated (DWI) in connection with an automobile accident which occurred in Colts Neck over Labor Day weekend. A 17-year-old passenger was also charged with underage possession of alcohol and hindering apprehension because he allegedly ran from the scene of the September 6th accident. For additional information, see the Asbury Park Press article.

It is important to remember the distinction between underage DWI and adult DWI in New Jersey. In this case, because the driver was 17, if he was under the influence of any alcohol at the time he operated the motor vehicle, he can be charged with underage driving while intoxicated (DWI). Thus, if he submits to a breath test and his breathalyzer readings are .01 or higher, he is guilty of underage DWI. Moreover, if his breath test results are .08 or higher, he can and will also be charged with adult driving while intoxicated (DWI). This is a significant distinction because the penalties and license suspension are significantly different for underage DWI (commonly known as "baby DWI") and adult DWI.

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