Ocean County DWI Cases Among 20K Impacted By Record Tampering Charge: Authorities

Ocean County drunk driving convictions are among more than 20,000 DWI cases that are being called into question after a New Jersey State Police sergeant was charged with falsifying records while calibrating breathalyzers, according to a report.

NJ.com reported Sgt. Marc Dennis, who was charged in September, is accused of deliberately skipping a required step while recalibrating three Alcotest devices, two of which were subsequently used in DWI cases.

A letter from the state Division of Criminal Justice that describes the charges against Dennis does not specify where the three breathalyzers were used. However, copies of the letter were distributed to the prosecutors in several counties, including Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato.

Dennis, a coordinator in the State Police Alcohol Drug Testing Unit, is accused of falsely certifying that he performed temperature checks when recalibrating the Alcotest devices, according to the letter. Elie Honig, director of the criminal justice division, said the step is not scientifically necessary but is required under a procedure developed by the State Police's chief forensic scientist.

That procedure was created to comply with a state Supreme Court decision regarding the admissibility of DWI test results in court, known as State v. Chun, the letter said.

How many of the more than 20,000 cases are specific to Ocean County was not immediately available.

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