DWI NJ
OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE BY UNDERAGE DRINKERS—N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.14
If you have been charged with violation of underaged DWI, I can help. I have handled hundreds of these cases in my 26 plus years of practice.
Please contact me for an evaluation of your circumstances and vigorous and competent defense at (732)-337-7922.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF WHAT CONSTITUTES DEFENSE:
You are nineteen (19) years old. Last Saturday evening you and a few friends piled into your car and you drove to a party. Nothing out of the ordinary, but you all drank a few beers that evening. At about 11:00 P.M., you were driving your friends home when you were signaled to stop by a police officer. You did not know it but he had been following you for a couple of blocks, observed you changing lanes and believes you are driving as if impaired by alcohol or narcotics. As he walks up to your window, he asks for your license, registration and insurance identification card. He smells the odor of alcohol and he asks you point blank—have you had any alcoholic beverages to drink that evening? Nervously, you reply that you have had one (1) beer. After calling for backup, he orders you out of the car and tells you he is going to require you to undergo Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST). The second police officer arrives and he conducts a search of the vehicle after issuing under age consumption of alcohol tickets under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15 to your passengers. Luckily he finds no contraband during the search. Your performance of the SFSTs is reasonably good, however the police officer cuffs you, places you in the back seat of his patrol car and takes you back to the police station for Alcotest breathe testing. Your car is impounded and towed. At the station, you blow a .085. Have you just committed a serious traffic offense?
You are nineteen (19) years old. Last Saturday evening you and a few friends piled into your car and you drove to a party. Nothing out of the ordinary, but you all drank a few beers that evening. At about 11:00 P.M., you were driving your friends home when you were signaled to stop by a police officer. You did not know it but he had been following you for a couple of blocks, observed you changing lanes and believes you are driving as if impaired by alcohol or narcotics. As he walks up to your window, he asks for your license, registration and insurance identification card. He smells the odor of alcohol and he asks you point blank—have you had any alcoholic beverages to drink that evening? Nervously, you reply that you have had one (1) beer. After calling for backup, he orders you out of the car and tells you he is going to require you to undergo Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST). The second police officer arrives and he conducts a search of the vehicle after issuing under age consumption of alcohol tickets under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15 to your passengers. Luckily he finds no contraband during the search. Your performance of the SFSTs is reasonably good, however the police officer cuffs you, places you in the back seat of his patrol car and takes you back to the police station for Alcotest breathe testing. Your car is impounded and towed. At the station, you blow a .085. Have you just committed a serious traffic offense?
ACTUAL LAW–UNDERAGE DWI NJ
OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE BY PERSON WHO HAS CONSUMED ALCOHOL BUT IS UNDER THE LEGAL AGE TO PURCHASE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; PENALTIES—N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.14
“Any person under the age to purchase alcoholic beverages who operates a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.01% or more, but less than 0.08%, by weight of alcohol in his blood, shall forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this State or shall be prohibited from obtaining a license to operate a motor vehicle in this State for not less than 30 or more than 90 days beginning on the date he becomes eligible to obtain a license or on the day of conviction, whichever is later, and shall perform community service for a period of not less then 15 or more than 30 days.
In addition, the person shall satisfy the program and fee requirements of an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) or participate in a program of alcohol education and highway safety as prescribed by the chief administrator.
The penalties provided under the provisions of this section shall be in addition to the penalties which the court may impose under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15 (Underage consumption of alcohol), R. S.33:1-81, R.S. 39:4-50 (DWI), or any other law.”
The answer to the question is YES. While an adult over the age of twenty one (21) may be able to have his DWI downgraded to a lesser included offense on these facts if he retains a skilled attorney, it is expressly unlawful for anybody under the age of twenty one (21) years to consume any alcoholic beverages in the State of New Jersey. N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15. Furthermore, if your alcotest readings also known as blood alcohol content (BAC), is at adult levels at the time you were operating your motor vehicle, you can be charged and prosecuted as an adult under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 and sentenced as an adult (See my U-Tube video and web-article on adult DWI sentencing). The thinking by the courts is that if you drink like an adult, then you should be charged as an adult—the lesser offense charged is completely discretionary and a prosecutor can amend the charge upward. If you are charged with under age DWI, you need to retain a skilled and experienced attorney immediately to (1) ensure that the charges are not prosecuted as adult DWI—a much more serious offense, and (2) you are not convicted of the criminal disorderly persons offense of underage consumption of alcohol under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15, and (3)the charges are downgraded or dismissed.
