If you have been charged with a DUI in Highland Park, chances has happened:
You were driving down Route 27 out of or toward New Brunswick and were stopped for a traffic violation such as speeding, tailgating, failure to yield or swerving or weaving (unsafe lane change). The officer approached your window and asked for your credentials. Most officers, especially if the stop is at night, will be attempting to detect the smell of alcohol emanating from your breath or from within your vehicle at this point.
The odor of alcohol, along with slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and incoherence are the most common reasons that a police officer will cite for detaining you at this point and investigating whether you are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, a police officer in New Jersey must have a reasonable suspicion at this point based on objective evidence that you are intoxicated. Simply committing a traffic violation is not normally enough. However, if there is a motor vehicle accident this may factor into the officer's determination.
A Highland Park DWI lawyer may argue that there was not reasonable suspicion to stop your vehicle, or that there was not reasonable suspicion that you intoxicated justifying further detention for sobriety testing. If you are detained for sobriety testing, the tests utilized by police to detect intoxication include the "one-leg stand" the "walk-and-turn" and the "horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test." While it has been shown that these tests can, to some extent, reveal that the driver of a vehicle is intoxicated, they all have weaknesses that a skilled DUI defense lawyer in New Jersey can exploit.
