07-01-09 STATE V. MARQUEZ A-5044-07T4

07-01-09 STATE OF NEW JERSEY V. GERMAN MARQUEZ
A-5044-07T4
The police have no constitutional obligation to translate
into Spanish the standard statement under the breath-test
refusal statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2(e), to a licensed New Jersey
driver arrested for drunk driving who does not understand
English. We reaffirm the Law Division's holding in State v.
Nunez, 139 N.J. Super. 28, 32-33 (Law Div. 1976), that no such
translation is required. However, we recommend that, as an
administrative matter, the Motor Vehicle Commission
prospectively consider having the standard statement translated
into Spanish and perhaps other prevalent foreign languages.

Richard Sadowski
Assistant Editor