STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. GALE SORENSEN
A-3797-13T4
After the Law Division suppressed defendant's blood alcohol content
(BAC) results, it sentenced her on her guilty plea to driving under the
influence. Nonetheless, the State's appeal of the suppression was not
barred by double jeopardy because defendant had entered a conditional
plea to, and been sentenced for, the per se violation in Municipal
Court.
The Law Division suppressed the BAC
results because the Alcotest operator did not give a copy of the Alcohol
Influence Report (AIR) to the arrestee in the police station. Although
State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54, 82 (2008), said the operator "must" do so,
that comment about recommended Alcotest procedure did not override the
statutory standard only requiring the police to give a copy of the
breath test results upon request. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2(b). In any event,
the timing of copy delivery does not affect the validity of the test
results. Moreover, police must advise arrestees of their ability to
request a copy and to get
an independent test. Therefore, suppression is not warranted in the
absence of prejudice. Furthermore, a suppression remedy should not be
imposed retroactively.
Judge Sabatino concurs in the result. Given the time-sensitive
dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream, he believes Chun sensibly
requires the operator to provide a copy of the AIR contemporaneously,
consistent with the policies of the Attorney General and the State
Police, and that the statute does not foreclose affording such added
procedural protection to tested drivers. He agrees that suppression in
this case and retroactive relief are not warranted. 2/27/15
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