Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
An out of state conviction for a drunk driving law, of a substantially similar nature, will constitute a prior offense in New Jersey. It is, however, possible to exclude the out of state conviction by proof that the conviction was based solely upon a violation of a proscribed BAC of less than .08%.
There are two possible effects that an out of-state driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs conviction can have on a New Jersey resident driver. First, a New Jersey resident can expect the imposition of an administrative license suspension and costly surcharges from New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicle Services once the out-of-state conviction has been reported. In addition, if a New Jersey resident driver is charged and convicted of a subsequent offense in New Jersey during the ten-year period following the out-of-state conviction, the prior conviction will subject the driver to enhanced penalties in New Jersey.
Administrative Sanctions
When a New Jersey resident is charged and convicted of a offense in a state outside of New Jersey, a record of the conviction usually be; reported to the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicle Services. This is especially likely if the New Jersey resident presented his New Jersey driver’s license to the police in connection with the out-of state violation.
A report of these convictions will be made to the Division of Motor Vehicle Services by operation of law through the Interstate Driver’s License Compact. If the conviction is reported to the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles, the Director will take administrative steps to suspend the driving privileges of the resident driver. The length of the suspension will be in accordance with the minimum license suspension periods available under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, depending upon the driver’s history of prior offenses.
A reported out-of state DWI conviction will also trigger the imposition of surcharges by the MVS. The surcharge will be at the rate of $1,000 per year for three years.
SENTENCING ENHANCEMENTS
The law is now clear that a prior out-of-state conviction enhance a subsequent conviction, that occurs in New Jersey. According to N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(3), a DWI in any of state that is similar to the NJ DWI law will constitute a prior conviction in New Jersey for sentencing purposes.
For the immediate future, a New Jersey defendant may be able to avoid the sentence enhancement consequences of an out-of-state DWI conviction under certain circumstances. The DWI driver may be able to prove that the out of state conviction was based on evidence that was less that the standard of proof as used in New Jersey. Basically, the DWI driver must prove that if the out of state court used the same standard of proof as New Jersey did, then he would not have been convicted.
