Court Ruling Could Result In Over 20,000 DWI Cases Being Tossed

A police officer carries out a breathalyzer test.

A ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court could invalidate over 20,000 alcohol breath tests that were used as evidence to convict motorists of driving while intoxicated. The ruling stems from an investigation launched in 2016 into Sergeant Marc Dennis, who was "accused of lying on official documents about performing a legally required temperature check while calibrating just three machines, known as Alcotest devices, which gauge the blood-alcohol level of accused drunken drivers," according to NJ.com. The ruling applies to any device that was calibrated by Dennis between 2008 and 2016. 

In the ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court voted unanimously to vacated the conviction of a woman who pleaded guilty driving drunk based on the results of the breathalyzer test. 

Anybody convicted of drunk driving still faces an uphill battle to get their conviction overturned. People currently awaiting trial will still need to defend themselves in court, while anybody who has been previously convicted will have to ask for the case to be re-opened and stand trial again, something that many people may not want to deal with, especially if they have already completed their sentence. 

The criminal case against Dennis is still underway and he has denied any wrongdoing. 

Photo: Getty Images


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