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A New Jersey man whose DWI was mishandled by police and thrown out in court is suing the bars that served him before he was injured in a drunken motorcycle crash.

If it sounds like a strange story, it is.

According to the New York Post, Antonio Salomon-Merlino of Carlstadt, New Jersey, spent a late night in July 2015 drinking at two bars.

The first, Oh! Calamares in Kearny, served him $300 worth of tequila and Pisco sours all evening, before he drove his motorcycle to Hector’s Sports Bar in Clifton, where he continued to drink until nearly 3:00 in the morning.

He finally left to head to a friend’s house to sleep it off, but around 3:15, he crashed his 2009 Suzuki motorcycle on Outwater Lane in Lodi, sustaining significant injuries to his leg.

Salomon-Merlino was transported to a hospital and charged with DWI, but his blood alcohol level wasn’t tested for nearly five hours.

At that point, the test result came back as .078, just a hair below the .08% threshold.

The DWI charge was dismissed, but Salomon-Merlino’s medical drama was just getting started.

Since the accident, he’s had three surgeries on his leg, including a knee reconstruction, as well as skin grafts. He has trouble walking and even driving, and anticipates additional surgeries ahead.

His lawsuit is based on an interesting theory of New Jersey’s Dram Shop Law, which gives standing to anyone who is injured by a drunk driver to sue the establishments that served them alcohol if they reasonably believed the driver was intoxicated.

Salomon-Merlino claims that the bars he visited that night should have known that he was intoxicated, and that his injuries entitle him – the victim of his own drunk driving accident – to damages under the law.

It’s an interesting theory of the case, and if the suit proceeds, the bars are likely to argue that the police’s blood alcohol results indicate that he wasn’t drunk.

One thing the story does show is that police are perfectly able to botch a DWI case and that police evidence in a DUI case isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.

An experienced DWI attorney can make a big difference in your case.

If you’ve been charged with DWI in New Jersey, call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyer.

A man who was awakened while sleeping in his car in the middle of Franklin Road in Denville launched into a small-scale traffic chase and nearly took out several police cars in the process.

According to media accounts, 39-year-old Kevin Deegan was spotted by an ambulance driver who called police to report that a vehicle was stopped in the roadway and that the driver was asleep behind the wheel.

When the ambulance driver went to check on him, Deegan woke up and drove off in the oncoming traffic lane, nearly colliding with a mailbox and other vehicles. As police cars headed toward the scene, Deegan nearly struck them as well.

Police were finally able to stop Deegan, and found an open vodka bottle, partly consumed, in the car. An empty bottle was also found.

Police administered field sobriety tests, which Deegan was not able to satisfactorily complete.

He was arrested at the scene and has been charged with DWI, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, improper turning, failure to keep right, consumption of alcohol by a driver in a vehicle, and possession of an open container in a vehicle.

DWI cases in New Jersey often feature significant amounts of evidence, including physical evidence of drinking and eyewitness accounts.

The situation can feel hopeless, but the truth is that an experienced DWI defense lawyer can make a difference in outcomes even in difficult cases.

If you’re facing DWI charges in New Jersey, get experienced legal help.

Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation.

A New Jersey State Police sergeant whose job was to calibrate Alcotest devices in several counties has been accused of records tampering in a case that may compromise more than 20,000 DWI convictions over a seven year period.

Sgt. Marc Dennis, who serves as a coordinator for the State Police Alcohol Drug Testing Unit, is accused of omitting a required step in re-calibrating Alcotest devices.

Oftentimes Alcotest results are used as evidence DWI cases in New Jersey.

He has been formally charged with third degree tampering with public records and fourth degree falsifying or tampering with records.

While Dennis is only known at this time to have miscalibrated three devices, he was responsible for calibration of Alcotest devices in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, and Union counties for approximately seven years.

The state has identified 20,667 cases linked to devices under his supervision. Every one of those cases may now be subject to appeal.

Dennis has been suspended without pay and has retained counsel.

For those who have faced prosecution for DWI with Alcotest data during the past several years, it may well be worth your while to speak to an experienced New Jersey DWI attorney to see if your case is one that may be affected by these new events.

Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free evaluation of your case.