Most recently, New Jersey has beefed up its drunk driving laws by imposing tougher standards for ignition interlock devices (IID). It has been shown that repeat driving under the influence offenses decline between fifty and ninety percent after the installation of an IID. Previously, a judge could choose to require a first time offender to install an IID in his or her car for six months to a year or could choose to require repeat offenders to install the IID from one to three years.

However, starting in 2010 first time DUI offenders whose blood alcohol content (BAC) is .15 or higher must install an IID for not less than six months and no more than a year. The new law also requires repeat offenders to have an IID for one to three years. These IID penalties had previously been left up to judges to impose.

New Jersey DUI in the news

Given its close proximity to New York, New Jersey experiences its fair share of celebrity DUI offenses. On March 23, 2010 at approximately nine o’clock in the morning, former major league baseball player Dwight Gooden was arrested in the exclusive New Jersey suburb of Franklin Lakes. A former pitcher for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, the forty-five year old Gooden was driving his five-year-old son Dylan to school when he was involved in a two-car crash. Thankfully, no one was injured in the accident.

It is alleged that, at the time of the accident, Gooden was under the influence of a controlled substance. Gooden’s manager would later reveal that he had taken Ambien, a highly-addictive sleep aid that had been prescribed by a doctor.

Gooden was charged with a laundry list of offenses arising out of the accident including being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance, endangering the welfare of a child, driving while intoxicated (DWI) with a child passenger, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, reckless driving, failure to keep right and failure to notify the state of a change of address on his driver’s license.

Sadly, this is not Gooden’s first run-in with the law nor his first struggle with substance abuse issues. In 1987, already a baseball star, Gooden tested positive for cocaine and entered drug rehab. In 1994, he was suspended for two months from baseball for failing two drug tests and eventually checked into Betty Ford; he continued to fail tests after returning from drug rehab and was suspended for the entire 1995 season. In 2002, Gooden was arrested in Tampa and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving. In 2005, it is alleged that he fled from a traffic stop in Tampa after being pulled over for erratic driving; the officer claimed he reeked of alcohol. In 2006, Gooden seemed high on cocaine at a meeting with his probation officer and was arrested; he served eight months in jail.

Gooden is due to be inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame this summer, along with Darryl Strawberry. No comment.

Is there such a thing as too drunk to commit a DUI?

Being arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol after a traffic stop is, for most people, a very sobering experience. Not only must they suffer the humiliation of criminal prosecution, but they also face steep fines and significant loss of driving privileges.

However, the typical first-offense penalties are nothing compared to what happens to a driver after he or she injures someone as a result of driving while intoxicated. When the driver kills someone, the potential loss of freedom can be the equivalent of a lifetime in prison. Under the threat of such a great penalty, it is not surprising that DUI defendants will try novel defense strategies in a desperate attempt to avoid jail.

One of the more novel examples of DUI defense strategy was recently exhibited in the Morristown, NJ trial of drunk driver Eugene Baum. Baum was charged with driving under the influence in 2006, a crime in itself that also resulted in the death of two teenage girls who were simply walking down the wrong road.

On April 20, 2006, Baum was driving on a New Jersey roadway around 9pm when his car veered onto the shoulder that the girls were walking on. His blood alcohol content (BAC) was an outrageous .34, approximately four times the legal limit. The two cousins, ages 15 and 16, were walking to a local movie theatre when the car threw them off the shoulder, killing them instantly. There is no evidence that Baum ever slowed down.

During his police interrogation, Baum admitted that he mixed vodka and Librium, a drug used to treat alcohol withdrawal. At trial, a defense expert opined that Baum became an “automaton” when he drank and experienced a severe reaction to the combination of alcohol and Librium which, ultimately, caused the crash. During legal proceedings, a mental health expert for New Jersey opined that Baum was a functioning alcoholic and could tolerate elevated levels of alcohol.

A defense psychiatrist diagnosed Baum with major depression and chronic alcoholism with physiological dependence at the time of the crash, in addition to intoxication in the form of delirium. Baum had also taken Paxil the night before the crash. The doctor declared Baum to be “massively impaired”. Baum had been previously hospitalized three times for pancreatitis arising from the alcoholism, most recently just two weeks prior to the accident. Upon discharge during another admission, he was advised to avoid drinking alcohol while taking Librium.

The State of New Jersey offered Baum a plea bargain of 20 years in state prison, 85 percent of which he would have needed to serve before being considered for parole. Baum rejected the offer and, if convicted of two counts of aggravated manslaughter and death by auto, faced sixty years in prison.

After seven days of testimony during the two-week trial, the jury was asked to consider whether Baum should be acquitted because his severe alcoholism made his acts unconscious to a degree that he could not perceive the risks of getting behind the wheel in his intoxicated state. New Jersey had argued that Baum had known the dangers of drinking and driving and had been warned by a doctor not to combine alcohol with the Librium he was taking for symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

The jury rejected Baum’s defense of being an atypical alcoholic and incapable of controlling his liquor intake. Instead, Baum was sentenced to 40 years in state prison; he will be eligible for parole around age 80.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100326/UPDATES01/100326028/1005/news01/Eugene+Baum+Jr.+sentenced+to+40+years+for+cousins++DWI+deaths
http://www.newjerseydwilawyerblog.com/2010/01/dover-nj-man-faces-dwi-manslau.html
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gooden_busted_on_dwi_charges_in_r0kzWwVANxBp4sXMO2Le8J

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/dover_man_was_intoxicated_on_a.html

Treatment of Drug Addicts in New Jersey Courts

According to the DEA, New Jersey has a serious drug problem. In April 2006, state medical professionals and law enforcement personnel noticed a dramatic increase of both fatal and non-fatal overdoses based on illegally manufactured fentanyl, a drug often used treat severe pain or drug-tolerant patients. New Jersey also has the unfavorable distinction of having twice the national average of heroin addicts between the ages of 18 and 25; a trend that continues given the relatively high level of purity and low price of New Jersey heroin. In a recent year, 41% of all substance abuse treatment admissions were for heroin addiction. Incarceration of people who are convicted of crimes connected to their alcoholism or drug addictions continue to plague state budgets. New Jersey spends an average of $35,000 per inmate, per year on its corrections program.

Happily, New Jersey is at the forefront of diversion programs for drug addicts. State lawmakers and judicial officers recognize that drug abusers will not stop committing crime if they need money to get high; the only way to stop the crime is to treat the addiction and change harmful behavior. New Jersey has three levels of judicial intervention for drug addicts who enter the criminal justice system. These rehabilitation programs focus primarily on first time offenders who have no violent backgrounds.

New Jersey Drug Court is a state-wide system, funded by the state. The success of the New Jersey Drug Court has prompted calls for expansion because, while the courts exist through the state, there are not enough spaces for all eligible participants. Started in 1996 in Camden and Essex courts, the program was expanded in 1999 to include Mercer, Passaic and Union. In 2001, New Jersey passed a law that enlarged the program to all of New Jersey, and also provided funding.

In New Jersey, court personnel collaborate with drug treatment professionals and substance abuse evaluators so that treatment for each participant can be tailored to his or her situation. Frequent court appearances and drug testing act to both support recovery and monitor compliance. Consideration for this drug treatment diversion program begins with a standardized assessment. Judges use as system of graduated sanctions and incentives to encourage drug rehab success. It is estimated that drug courts save the State of New Jersey roughly $17,000 in incarceration costs per participant, per year. Based on a recent NJ Supreme Court ruling, judges enjoy broad discretion as to whether a drug addict is eligible for the program. Participation in the New Jersey drug court program can last up to five years, during which time the addict is on probation and in some type of treatment program.

New Jersey also offers two programs for drug offenders who need less supervision to comply with the drug treatment program. The first, Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI), is for first time offenders who are accused of a non-violent crime. For serious offenses, applicants need prosecutorial approval for participation. The goal of the program is to address the problems that lead to the criminal behavior. Often, drug abuse or alcoholism is one such factor. Successful completion of the drug rehab or alcohol rehab program results in a clean criminal record and, possibly, expungement of the arrest record.

The last drug diversion program is called Conditional Discharge. The program is mainly for those charged with marijuana (pot) related petty offenses. The offender is given probation, the proceedings are suspended and, if there are no negative drug tests or further offenses, the charges are dismissed.

All three of New Jersey’s drug diversion treatment programs are supported by Treatment Assessment Services for the Courts (TASC). Any time a judge needs to make a decision about bail, diversion or sentencing, a substance abuse evaluator completes a comprehensive assessment of the case. The assessment process is rigorous and consists of a drug test, addiction severity rating, treatment need analysis, preparation of a list of recommended providers, and determination of an anticipated entry date.

Treatment of Alcoholics in New Jersey Courts

New Jersey is truly unique in its treatment of alcohol abusers who are arrested for driving under the influence. Unless the DUI resulted in an injury or damage to property, the incident is treated as a traffic violation. Since it is not a criminal offense, there is no jury trial for DWI. When arrested, there is no fingerprint and the DUI will not appear on the driver’s criminal record; however, the incident will appear on the department of motor vehicle record. Depending on the blood alcohol level of the driver, punishment for a first-offense DUI in New Jersey can be up to 30 days jail, a $500 fine, and up to a year of license suspension. In addition, the driver must attend between 12 and 48 hours of education counseling at the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center, where he or she will be evaluated and referred for more comprehensive alcohol abuse treatment, if necessary.