DWI Attorneys in Basking Ridge – Mark & Galusha, LLC

Even a Judge isn’t immune from Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) arrests and convictions in New Jersey. An Ex-Judge George Korpita was convicted of DWI (NJSA 39:4-50), but more importantly the Court found that the Judge’s belching after a DWI arrest was a "conscious avoidance of the Alcotest." The Alcotest is a digital device which uses an infrared sensor coupled with electrochemical cell technology to accurately measure breath alcohol concentration.

Korpita blamed the burps on what he ate for dinner that night, but the Court did not agree, saying that Korpita was using knowledge obtained as a judge sitting over many DWI trials, to thwart the Alcotest and they charged him with refusal.

After he was convicted and sentenced to a 45-day suspended jail term, a two-year suspension on the DWI and seven months on the refusal charge, Korpita appealed and lost.

The Appellate Division Judge’s upheld George Korpita’s convictions for driving while intoxicated (DWI), refusing to submit to breath tests and failing to keep right. After his arrest for DWI, Korpita was taken to the Sparta Police Station where attempts to take Alcotest readings were halted because he belched repeatedly, in fact the court reports reveal Korpita belched 78 times in 75 minutes, apparently trying to avoid the DWI arrest. Alcotest protocol requires a 20-minute wait after an individual burps because it can skew readings by drawing alcohol into the mouth.

Korpita argued to the Appellate Division that the DWI suppression should have been granted and that there was insufficient evidence to support the DWI conviction. Judges Jose Fuentes, Victor Ashrafi and William Nugent found that Korpita’s sudden episode of belching when police were ready to take breath samples, and its cessation after he was charged with refusal, was "evidence that he avoided taking the DWI test, demonstrating consciousness of guilt" and supporting the conclusion that his motivation was to block use of the DWI Alcotest.

Driving While Intoxicated Attorneys in Somerset County, New Jersey

For more information on this DWI case, or if you need legal representation on for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or any traffic offense, call your DWI attorneys at Mark & Galusha, LLC at 908-626-1001, 973-440-2311 or email us from the "contact us" page.