The Alcotest in New Jersey: The Twenty Minute Wait

Last year, New Jersey’s Supreme Court rendered a well-integrated decision that identified the conditions associated with the admissibility at trial of the result of an AlCOTEST in a drunk driving (DWI/DUI ) prosecution. One of those conditions required the government to observe the defendant for a period of twenty minutes before administering the test. The purpose of this observation period is to determine whether the subject burped, regurgitated, or ingested anything which are all events that can effect the reliability of the equipment.

Recently, a Mercer County Judge reversed a drunk driving conviction where two police officers alternated their watch of a defendant, where only one could remember what he saw. The Judge concluded that the twenty minute observation period was a necessary element of the government’s case and that it had to be proven by clear and convincing evidence.

I have recently published a book titled: "New Jersey’s DWI Survivor’s Guide" which you can download on my website at www.ftlucianolaw.com. There is other information on this subject located in the Library Section of this website.