A driving while intoxicated charge in New Jersey is not a crime. It is a motor vehicle offense. That sounds like relief, and it is the opposite. The programs that rescue a first-time criminal defendant do not reach a DWI: there is no pretrial intervention here and no conditional discharge. Neither does the expungement statute, which by its own terms does not apply to Title 39 offenses. N.J.S.A. 2C:52-28.
That is why the work has to happen now. This firm has extensive experience on both sides of driving while intoxicated cases, and every part of the State’s proof is examined: the reason for the stop, the officer’s observations, the field sobriety testing, and the instrument and the person who operated it. Call before the first court date, or after.
Penalties scale with blood alcohol content, and since the 2019 amendments the center of gravity has moved from suspension to the ignition interlock device. On a first offense at a reading of 0.08 to under 0.10 the fine runs $250 to $400, and driving privileges are forfeited until an interlock is installed; from 0.10 to under 0.15, the fine is $300 to $500 on the same interlock condition; and at 0.15 or above, the same fine range applies with a forfeiture of three months following installation of the device. Every first offense carries detainment at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center of twelve to forty-eight hours, and the court may impose up to thirty days in jail. A second offense brings a $500 to $1,000 fine, thirty days of community service, between forty-eight consecutive hours and ninety days in jail, and one to two years of forfeiture. A third carries a $1,000 fine, one hundred eighty days in county jail, of which the court may permit up to ninety to be served in an approved inpatient rehabilitation program, and an eight-year forfeiture. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50. An insurance surcharge follows all of it.
The State must prove operation and intoxication beyond a reasonable doubt. This firm scrutinizes every link in the chain: the lawfulness of the stop, the administration of the field sobriety tests against the standardized protocol, the foundational documents required before the Alcotest reading is admissible at all, the observation period, and the calibration and inspection records. The Alcotest was approved for use in New Jersey subject to conditions the Supreme Court imposed on the State, not as a machine beyond question. State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54 (2008). That does not mean it is infallible. A DWI defense is built in the discovery and the motion practice, long before anyone stands up for trial.
Refusing the breath test is its own violation, separate from the driving while intoxicated charge and typically charged alongside it. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a. It carries its own forfeiture and interlock obligations, and critically the State does not have to prove you were intoxicated to convict you of it. What the State does have to prove is that the implied consent warning was properly given. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2. We examine the standard statement as read, whether it was read at all, and whether it was read in a language you actually understood. Two charges mean two places the State can fail. We work both.
Were you arrested for driving while impaired by drugs, including marijuana? There is no per se threshold for THC the way there is for alcohol, so the State proves these cases through the observations and opinion of a Drug Recognition Expert. That opinion now has to satisfy a reliability standard before a court will hear it. State v. Olenowski, 255 N.J. 529 (2023). With cannabis legal in New Jersey these prosecutions have increased, and so has the ground on which they can be contested. This firm enjoys litigating them.
Some cases arrive with enhancements that can change everything. A driving while intoxicated offense within one thousand feet of school property carries enhanced fines and suspension. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(g). Underage drivers are governed by a separate statute with a 0.01 threshold. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.14. Commercial drivers face career consequences on a different scale: operating a commercial motor vehicle at a 0.04 reading is itself prohibited, N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.13, and the disqualification that follows runs one to three years on a first offense and for life on a second. N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.20. Companion charges commonly include controlled dangerous substances in a motor vehicle, N.J.S.A. 39:4-49.1, and open container violations. Each of these has to be identified at the outset, because a plea that looks fine on the DWI can be ruinous through the companion charges.
The most serious consequence of a driving while intoxicated conviction frequently arrives later. A person who drives while suspended for a second or subsequent DWI or refusal conviction commits a crime of the fourth degree, carrying a mandatory one hundred eighty days in jail with no parole eligibility. N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26. This is how a driving case becomes a criminal record. If you are under suspension from a prior DWI, do not drive, and if you have already been charged, see Criminal Defense and Motor Vehicle Offenses.
Authority: driving while intoxicated N.J.S.A. 39:4-50; implied consent N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2 and refusal to submit to a chemical breath test N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a; DWI in a school zone N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(g); underage DWI N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.14; CDL disqualification N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.13; CDS in a motor vehicle N.J.S.A. 39:4-49.1; consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle N.J.S.A. 39:4-51; open container by the operator N.J.S.A. 39:4-51a; open container by a passenger N.J.S.A. 39:4-51b; boating while intoxicated N.J.S.A. 12:7-46; operating while suspended for a second or subsequent DWI or refusal N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26; Alcotest reliability and its conditions State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54 (2008); admissibility of Drug Recognition Expert testimony State v. Olenowski, 255 N.J. 529 (2023). Penalty figures reflect N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 as amended in 2019. This summary is for general information only and is not legal advice. Consult counsel about a specific matter.