NJ Laws Email Newsletter E321 December 2, 2009 Kenneth Vercammen, Attorney at Law In this Issue 1 In DWI case State must provide 20 minute observation of driver prior to breath test by clear and convincing evidence, but arresting officer can testify as part of 20 minutes State v Urgrovics__ NJ Super. __ A-4906-08T4 12-02-09 This appeal concerns the admissibility of the results of an Alcotest. By leave granted, the State appeals from the order of the Law Division suppressing the results of the Alcotest because the arresting officer, rather than the Alcotest operator, was the person who observed defendant during the twenty minutes prior to him taking the test. In reaching this conclusion, the trial court relied on what it characterized as the "procedures" mandated by the Supreme Court in State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54, cert. denied, ____ U.S. ____, 129 S. Ct. 158, 172 L. Ed. 2d 41(2008). The court reverses. The court held that the State is only required to establish that the test subject did not ingest, regurgitate or place anything in his or her mouth that may compromise the reliability of the test results for a period of at least twenty minutes prior to the administration of the Alcotest. The State can meet this burden by calling any competent witness who can so attest.
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