Vol. L · No. I FOL. LIDWI

Matter · 2026

Hackensack Municipal Court (Bergen County) 2026 Bergen Vicinage (Hackensack) John S. Avery, Esq.

DWI

First-Offense DWI Defense in Hackensack — A Probable-Cause Approach

Case-type narrative — first-offense DWI in Hackensack Municipal Court resolved on probable-cause grounds under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50. Defense approach.

Question Presented

Whether a Hackensack Municipal Court DWI prosecution under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 can survive when the underlying traffic stop rests on an officer's articulable-suspicion narrative that fails State v. Locurto and the State cannot independently corroborate the basis for the seizure.

Holding

Where the State cannot satisfy its burden of articulable suspicion for the initial stop, every fruit of that stop — including the Alcotest 7110 reading — is inadmissible, and the per-se prong of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 collapses with it.

Brief Background

The matter began with a late-night traffic stop on Route 4 in Hackensack. The arresting officer's CAD narrative cited a momentary lane drift; in-car video did not corroborate the drift. The defense moved to suppress under State v. Pineiro and State v. Stovall, framing the stop as a hunch rather than a seizure justified by articulable suspicion.

Firm's Role

Avery & Avery, Esqs. served as defense counsel from arraignment through dismissal. The firm cross-examined the arresting officer on the CAD narrative inconsistency, introduced in-car video as impeachment, and persuaded the Municipal Court that the stop failed the Locurto / Pineiro standard. The State dismissed the N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 charge in lieu of an unwinnable suppression hearing.

Citation

N.J.S.A. 39:4-50; State v. Locurto, 157 N.J. 463 (1999); State v. Pineiro, 181 N.J. 13 (2004)