20K DWIs In NJ Could Be Tossed After Supreme Court Decision

The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that more 20,000 breath tests were not admissable, raising the possiblity that tens of thousands of DWI cases could be overturned.

In an opinion released on Tuesday afternoon, the state Supreme Court ruled that the machines used to administer the tests were not properly calibrated.

"Confidence in the reliability of instruments of technology used as evidence is of paramount importance," according to the court's unanimous decision, written primarily by Justice Walter F. Timpon. "Unfortunately, alleged human failings have cast doubt on the calibration process."

The decision means that 20,667 DWI convictions can now be challenged after alleged mistakes made primarily by Marc W. Dennis, who served coordinator in the New Jersey State Police’s Alcohol Drug Testing Unit. Dennis was tasked with performing the semi-annual calibrations on Alcotest instruments used in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, and Union Counties.

Dennis has been charged with neglecting to take required measurements and having falsely certified that he followed the calibration procedures, according to the court decision. Dennis was indicted in 2016 for failing to use the right thermometer to measure the temperature of simulator solutions used to calibrate Alcotest devices. The case is pending.

When Dennis was criminally charged, the Attorney General’s Office notified the Administrative Office of the Courts that breath samples from 20,667 people were procured using Alcotest machines calibrated by Dennis.

One defendant who was potentially impacted was Eileen Cassidy, who has since died after pleading guilty in municipal court to driving under the influence based solely on Alcotest results showing her blood alcohol level had exceeded the legal limit, according to the court.

Upon learning that the results of her test were among those called into question by Dennis’s alleged mistakes, she moved to withdraw her guilty plea. Appellate Division Presiding Judge Joseph F. Lisa then reviewed the case to determine whether “the failure to test the simulator solutions with the ... digital thermometer before calibrating an Alcotest machine [would] undermine or call into question the scientific reliability."

After an extensive evidentiary hearing, Lisa issued a 198-page report in which he concluded that failure to use a thermometer that produces the correct temperature readings in the calibration process "undermines the reliability of the Alcotest and that the state failed to carry its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence."

The courts ultimately vacated Cassidy's decision.

South Brunswick police photo