Is New Jersey DWI Breath Alcohol Test Admissible In Court?
Reader’s Question:
I have once been a victim of DWI and been following cases since. A month or so ago, I heard in the news that the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the results of breath tests conducted by the Alcotest 7110 are reliable. Does this mean that this will be admissible in court for DWI cases?
Kate
Jersey City, NJ
Alcotest is a fully automated machine used to determine the blood alcohol content (BAC) of drivers suspected of New Jersey DWI. The state says that they can no longer purchase replacement parts for the Breathalyzer machine because the Breathalyzer test was invented in 1954.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the results of breath tests conducted by the Alcotest 7110 are reliable. The Alcotest has replaced the Breathalyzer across most part of the state. According to the Supreme Court ruling, the Alcotest results will be admissible in court as long as the police follow the safeguards that the court outlined in its 132-page opinion.
The decision of the Supreme Court relied mostly on the person appointed to study the machine in early 2006. According to the findings, much to the surprise of New Jersey DWI lawyers, Alcotest is far more accurate than the Breathalyzer.
The New Jersey Supreme Court Justices were unanimous in their decision. One of the Justices even said that the Alcotest is sufficiently scientifically reliable that its reports may be admitted in court as evidence.
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