Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> New Jersey Criminal Defense Blog

Criminal Law

: New Jersey Criminal Defense Blog

Twenty Minute Observation Upheld in DWI Cases

By Lependorf & Silverstein

Superior Court Judge Mitchel Ostrer of Mercer County held on March 5, in State v. Nagorniak, that the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant was observed by a police officer for a minimum of 20 minutes before a breathalyzer test was taken. Ostrer reversed the Lawrence Township municipal Court?s admission of Alcotest results that convicted Lubomir Nagorniak, finding the state did not meet its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that he was observed continuously for 20 minutes. Two officers were alternately watching Nagorniak but one of them could not recall what he saw, the judge found. ?The purpose of this observation is to ensure that the defendant has not ingested or regurgitated substances that would taint the breath sample...continue to full post

Full post as published by New Jersey Criminal Defense Blog on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).