Travis J. Tormey, founding partner of the Tormey Law Firm, recently stood up for a client accused of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) in Little Falls, NJ. The client reportedly registered a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .09 percent, barely above the New Jersey legal limit of .08 percent BAC. This was the client’s first DWI offense, but he still faced significant penalties: driver’s license suspension for a period of three months, a fine of up to $750, attendance at alcohol education classes hosted at the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC), and a potential sentence of 30 days in the county jail.

These were the straightforward facts of the case: police officers discovered the client standing outside his motor vehicle, which was stopped along railroad tracks in Little Falls NJ. The car was stuck on the train tracks, so police had to call a tow truck. After administering a breath test to the client, Little Falls police placed him under arrest and charged him with a first offense DWI.

The client later had to make an appearance in Little Falls Municipal Court, which is located in Passaic County NJ, so that he could answer the drunk driving charges. Before the case reached trial, the State encountered several issues of proof. For example, the prosecutor in the case struggled to establish that Little Falls NJ police administered the Alcotest breath test within a reasonable time after the client operated his car. Since police officers never saw the client seated in his motor vehicle at any point, they could not state when he drove his car or how long it had been stuck on the train tracks. Additionally, the prosecutor in the case was not able to prove DWI charges for a person found behind the wheel of an inoperable vehicle. The client’s car was considered “inoperable” because it was stuck on the Little Falls NJ train tracks, meaning that it was not possible for the client to drive the vehicle.

The knowledgeable DWI defense attorneys at the Tormey Law Firm raised these issues when filing a motion to dismiss the charges based on a lack of operation of the vehicle. Travis Tormey also filed a motion to suppress the breath test reading. The Little Falls Municipal Court judge ultimately granted both motions, resulting in the dismissal of the client’s DWI charges. The client ended up pleading guilty to a minor moving violation of careless driving and his driver’s license was suspended for just 30 days. This was a tremendous outcome for the client and a big success for the Tormey Law Firm.