Kenneth Vercammen is a Middlesex County Trial Attorney who has published 130 articles in national and New Jersey publications on Criminal Law, Probate, Estate and litigation topics.

He was awarded the NJ State State Bar Municipal Court Practitioner of the Year.

He lectures and handles criminal cases, Municipal Court, DWI, traffic and other litigation matters.

To schedule a confidential consultation, call us or New clients email us evenings and weekends via contact box www.njlaws.com.

Kenneth Vercammen & Associates, P.C,

2053 Woodbridge Avenue,

Edison, NJ 08817,

(732) 572-0500

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

DWI Driver Cannot be Sentenced as Second Time School Zone Offender- New articles, ABA newsletters, and Community events

DWI Driver Cannot be Sentenced as Second Time School Zone Offender Unless He Had a Prior School Zone Conviction

DWI Driver cannot be sentenced an 2nd time school zone offender unless he had a prior school zone conviction State v. Reiner 363 NJ 167 (2004). Subsection (a)[regular DWI] and (g)[school zone DWI of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 are separate offenses; therefore, in order to be sentenced as a second-time offender under subsection (g), there must be another prior school zone conviction against the defendant under that subsection. Therefore, the statute must be construed strictly against the State and in favor of Reiner. Under the circumstances here, the more favorable result for Reiner would be to construe subsection (g) as a separate offense that requires other subsection (g) convictions for repeat status to attach. In respect of the subsection (g) offense, Reiner is a first-time offender. He is a repeat offender only under subsection (a). DWI and DWI School Zone Merge! Maximum two year suspension.
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