New Jersey DUI Administrative Hearing- Is It Different From Case Trial?
Reader’s Question:
My son told me about this administrative hearing on his DUI case in New Jersey and he told me that it is different from the actual case trial. How is this administrative hearing different from the case trial?
Princess
Newark, NJ
The administrative hearing that your son is referring to on his DUI case in Newark, New Jersey is the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hearing. This is a civil proceeding that is different from the criminal case. It is common fact that in order to find a defendant guilty of a crime, it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard of proof in civil proceedings is much less difficult for the State. In the criminal DUI case in New Jersey, a person has a right to a jury trial but does not have this right in a civil case. Both the law and the facts when it comes to the DMV hearing is decided by an Administrative Law Judge.
This hearing should be requested within 10 days after the DUI arrest. If not, the person’s driver’s license will automatically go into suspension and he/she will not be able to fight it. So in any DUI case, a person can be tried twice for the same crime. Since you son was arrested for DUI, he must face prosecution in court, as well as license suspension proceedings with the New Jersey DMV.
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