After you are convicted of a Pennsylvania DUI charge by either pleading guilty or being found guilty after a trial, many clients ask what happens to my PA driver’s license.   Your lawyer should have explained the Pennsylvania DUI-DAI law to you, including the penalties.   Your license suspension is set by statute depending on your blood [...]

Last week, the NJ Appellate Division was asked to rule on a case involving a New York driver whose license was suspended in New York for Driving Under the Influence (DUI-DWI).  Via the Interstate Drivers Compact, this driver’s license was also suspended in the State of New Jersey. The driver was caught driving near the [...]

Obviously, every DUI-DWI-DAI suspect wherever they have been charged wants to know what the procedure will be like.   Without explaining the whole Pennsylvania DUI-DWI-DAI process in a blog entry, we have attached this handy PA DUI-DWI-DAI flow chart.   This chart runs you through the steps in the legal process in Pennsylvania from a DUI-DAI-DWI arrest [...]

·         Court Reporting Network (CRN) evaluation ·         Alcohol Severity Index (ASI) assessment ·         Alcohol Highway Safety School (AHSS) Program ·         Intervention Program ·         DUI Outpatient Treatment Program Costs associated with these programs: ·         Court Reporting Network (CRN) evaluation                       $  50.00 ·         Alcohol Severity Index (ASI) assessment                            $140.00 ·         Alcohol Highway Safety School (AHSS) Program                  $200.00 ·         AHSS [...]

It is highly advisable that you should seek inpatient rehabilitation if you get a PA or NJ DUI-DWI-DAI or you have a drug and/or alcohol addiction. Not only will it help your personal problem and possibly save your life, but it will also help your case. The sentencing judge will appreciate that you took affirmative [...]

Commonwealth must prove by a preponderance of the evidence standard that each breath test: 1.     Was conducted by a qualified person who has fulfilled the training requirements set forth by the Departments of Health and Transportation. 2.     Was conducted on a device approved by the department of health. 3.     Utilized proper procedure prescribed. 4.     The breath testing machine must [...]

Tens of thousands of NJ DUI-DWI Defendants have had their lives put on hold as the NJ Alcotest is being approved by the NJ Supreme Court.    This is an involved process in New Jersey where experts for the manufacturer and NJ Attorney General argue with experts for the defense, all in the hopes of determining [...]

During an initiative, which ran from August 17 through September 3, 2007, police agencies throughout the state conducted saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints as part of a national initiative designed to combat drunk driving during one of the busiest travel times of the year. A record 96 percent of New Jersey law enforcement agencies participated [...]

Yesterday, Special Master, Michael King, heard final arguments from all the NJ DWI defense counsel and amicus curiae (friends of the court) in Camden, NJ.   There will be no further testimony in to be heard by Judge King. Today, the Office of the Attorney General and the manufacturer of the Alcotest 7110 will argue their [...]

Only a person in PENNSYLVANIA could think of this…(not me) From the county where drunk driving is considered a sport, comes this true story. Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a bar in Clearfield, PA after last call the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so apparently intoxicated that he could barely walk. [...]

On October 6, 2007, a Notice was posted in the Pennsylvania Bulletin (37 Pa.B. 5434) announcing a new list of approved PA breath test devices. The Department of Health (Department) has approved the following equipment for determining the alcohol content of blood by analysis of a person’s breath. Manufacturer and Model Alcohol Countermeasure Systems Corp., [...]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently done substantial research and created a new DUI-DWI-DAI detection guide and training materials for police.  This new DUI-DWI-DAI detection guide describes a set of behaviors that can be used by police officers to detect motorists who are likely to be driving while impaired.   NHTSA developed [...]

Earlier this year, the Philadelphia District Attorney announced its new DUI Treatment Court.   This program will focus on rehabilitation and education rather than straight imprisonment.  This is exactly what we need to help prevent future DUI-DWI-DAI offenses in this country.   In my opinion, prison does nothing but scare people.   Education and rehab will change people. [...]

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot) and Pennsylvania police announce results of a recent impaired driving crackdown.  Nearly 125 impaired drivers were taken off the roads last month during a one-night, concentrated effort by Pennsylvania State Police and local law enforcement agencies during a national, impaired-driving enforcement effort.   As a part of its three-week [...]

Recent news from the attorneys that are directly involved with the NJ Alcotest hearings in the NJ Supreme Court:   “On Monday September 17, 2007, a new series of hearings will begin before Special Master Judge Michael Patrick King, P.J.A.D. (ret.) in the on-going Alcotest litigation in State v. Chun.   The hearings should last between [...]

Bucks County, PA and Mercer County, NJ, local police and state troopers, along with all other PA and NJ police officers must state in their PA or NJ drinking and driving, under the influence DUI-DWI-DAI report the reasons for which the police officer pulled over the suspect and the reasons why he or she thinks [...]

Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot) issued its 2006 Crash Facts and Statistics Report.   This blog entry will begin a series of blog entries related to the information contained in this lengthy Pennsylvania accident report.  Alcohol played a role in about 11% of all Pennsylvania accidents in the year 2006.  The number of [...]

Again, the State of NJ is making the NJ DUI-DWI laws stricter!  In a case published last week, the NJ Appellate Division stated that the Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP) and the weekend reporting program are not available for 3rd time NJ DUI-DWI offenders.  A 3rd NJ DUI-DWI offense requires a mandatory 180-day county jail [...]

This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its 2006 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment of Alcohol-Related Fatalities.  In the United States 17,590 people were killed due to alcohol-related traffic accidents in 2006.   This number was only 12 less than 2005’s drunk driving death count. It is very interesting to note that PA and [...]

See the NJ DUI-DWI-DAI Chart here:  NJ DWI Chart.pdf Any NJ DUI-DWI-DAI suspect should be aware that there are other penalties or consequences of a NJ DUI-DWI-DAI charge.   These are sometimes called collateral consequences.   You should be consulting with an experienced NJ DUI-DWI-DAI lawyer so that you will be made aware of other possible consequences [...]