It is likely that quite a few people reading this spent some time with friends or family socializing last weekend. In the course of those social gatherings it is possible that some people may have consumed alcohol and then, thinking that they were okay, gotten behind the wheel of a vehicle to drive. Assuming that people would take this action over the long holiday weekend, law enforcement officers in the state of New Jersey set up sobriety checkpoints.
The checkpoints — some of which were set up in Monmouth and Ocean counties — were created to determine whether drivers were operating their vehicles under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The stops likely resulted in the DUI arrests of some people, who did not intend to or think that they were driving drunk. For some of those individuals it may be their first experience with the criminal justice system and they may be confused about what action to take.
One need not have a long line of brushes with the law to be seriously impacted by the consequences of a drunk driving conviction. In addition to potential jail time, increased insurance rates and fines, the individual could lose his or her driver’s license for a period of time as well. To try to minimize these consequences it is important for those in this situation to work quickly to build a defense. In most cases the best way to do this is with the assistance of a criminal defense lawyer who has handled drunk driving cases in the past.
