DUI Trial For DUI case In New Jersey
Reader’s Question:
My daughter has been arrested for DUI in Toms River, New Jersey and I need to clarify some things about her case. Will she have the right to a jury trial on her DUI case?
Fanny
Toms River, NJ
For misdemeanor cases such as first or second DUI charge, the case will be in either a municipal or district court of the county where your daughter was arrested. In Toms River, New Jersey, there is no right to a jury trial in either a municipal or district court. If one of these courts hears your daughter’s case and she exercises her right to have a trial, then she will have a bench trial. A bench trial is a trial before a judge only and there in no jury. If she chose to have a trial in either a district or municipal court and is convicted, she has a right to appeal that conviction to a circuit court of the county she was arrested for a new trial.
In order to perfect her right to a DUI conviction from a district or municipal court, she must file a notice of appeal within 14 days of conviction and post an appeal bond. If she does not file within the time allotted, she forfeits her right to any appeal. She is entitled to a jury trial in circuit court. If she loses in circuit court, she can always appeal that decision to the New Jersey appellate courts.
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