State v. Marquez

974 A.2d 1092, 408 N.J. Super. 273
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJuly 1, 2009
DocketDOCKET NO. A-5044-07T4
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 974 A.2d 1092 (State v. Marquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Marquez, 974 A.2d 1092, 408 N.J. Super. 273 (N.J. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

974 A.2d 1092 (2009)
408 N.J. Super. 273

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
German MARQUEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

DOCKET NO. A-5044-07T4

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Argued May 11, 2009.
Decided July 1, 2009.

*1093 Michael B. Blacker argued the cause for appellant.

Anne Marie Gibbons-Lejnieks, Union County Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Theodore J. Romankow, Union County Prosecutor, attorney; Ms. Gibbons-Lejnieks, of counsel and on the brief.).

Before Judges CARCHMAN, R.B. COLEMAN and SABATINO.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

SABATINO, J.A.D.

Defendant German Marquez, a licensed New Jersey driver, appeals his conviction of refusing to submit to a breath test, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2, after being arrested for drunk driving. Defendant argues that because he is only fluent in Spanish and does not understand English, he cannot be guilty of refusing to comply with the standard breath test instruction (the "standard statement"), which the arresting police officer read to him in English.

We affirm defendant's conviction because the law does not require a translation of the standard statement under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2(e) and because defendant gave his implied consent to submit to a breath test when he obtained his New Jersey driver's license. However, we recommend that, as an administrative matter, the Motor Vehicle Commission prospectively consider having the standard statement translated into Spanish and perhaps other prevalent foreign languages.

The facts relevant to our consideration of the issues on appeal are substantially undisputed. On the evening of September 20, 2007, defendant's Toyota struck the rear end of another vehicle at or near the intersection of Park Avenue and West Second Street in Plainfield. A Plainfield patrolman, Officer Shane Lugo, arrived at the accident scene. The officer observed both vehicles facing in a southbound direction. Defendant was seated behind the wheel of the Toyota, with its engine still running.

*1094 Speaking in English, Officer Lugo requested defendant's driving credentials. After it became apparent that defendant did not understand him, Officer Lugo repeated his request in Spanish.[1] Defendant then produced a valid New Jersey driver's license, a vehicle registration and an insurance card. As this was occurring, Officer Lugo smelled alcohol and noticed that defendant was slurring his words. The officer also noticed that defendant had to brace himself to get out of his car and then began leaning against a tree. Consequently, Officer Lugo asked defendant, in English, to perform certain field sobriety tests. Defendant did not comply, apparently not understanding the request.

Based on his observations, Officer Lugo placed defendant under arrest and transported him to police headquarters. He noticed that defendant's eyes were bloodshot and droopy, and that his speech was "whiny." The officer believed defendant was intoxicated.

Upon arriving at headquarters, Officer Lugo ushered defendant into a room where the Alcotest 7110[2] breath test is administered. The officer activated a video camera that taped[3] the events. Officer Lugo then read to defendant, in English, all eleven paragraphs of the standard statement mandated by N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2(e). Among other things, the statement explains the mandatory nature of the breath test, the minimum penalties for refusing the test, and the test subject's right to have a defense expert conduct independent chemical testing of the sample.

After the standard statement was read to him in English, defendant responded in Spanish, "No entiendo," meaning "I do not understand." Officer Lugo then visually demonstrated to defendant, an estimated "three or four times," how to blow air into the test device. Defendant did not perform the test. Instead, he shook his head and pointed to one of his eyes. Officer Lugo memorialized this reaction on a police form, noting that defendant "[s]hook head."

Another Plainfield police officer, Anthony Berlinski, was also in the room and was prepared to administer the Alcotest to defendant. According to Officer Berlinski, he watched Officer Lugo read the statement to defendant. He then saw defendant's negative reaction, which he construed as a refusal. Berlinski duly recorded the refusal. On cross examination, Berlinski, a nineteen-year veteran police officer, acknowledged that he had been trained to read the standard statement aloud only in English.

Defendant was issued summonses for driving while intoxicated ("DWI"), N.J.S.A. 39:4-50; refusal to submit to a breath test, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.2; and careless driving, N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.

At his ensuing trial in municipal court, defendant testified through a Spanish interpreter. The prosecution did not contest defendant's need for an interpreter. Nor did the State dispute defendant's unwavering claim that he did not understand Officer Lugo when the officer read aloud the standard statement in English.

In his translated testimony, defendant maintained that he had not consumed any alcohol before driving on the night of his arrest. He claimed that he had not had a drink since sustaining an eye injury about *1095 five months earlier. He stated that he had felt somewhat sleepy and dizzy as the result of taking Percocet about twenty minutes before driving.

Defendant acknowledged that Officer Lugo had read aloud a statement to him at police headquarters. He advised the court that he did not understand the statement because it was in English. Defendant also noted that he had taken the written examination for the New Jersey driver's license in Spanish.

The State relied at trial upon the testimony of Officers Lugo and Berlinski, as well as the videotape and the official police records noting defendant's refusal to perform the breath test. In summation, the prosecutor argued that the rear-end accident caused by defendant amply established his culpability for careless driving. Additionally, the accident, coupled with Officer Lugo's perceptions of defendant's bloodshot eyes, odor, slurred speech and swaying, proved his guilt of the DWI offense.

As to the refusal violation, the prosecutor argued that Officer Lugo discharged his responsibility by reading the standard statement in English. The prosecutor maintained that the statement did not have to be translated for defendant into Spanish, relying upon State v. Nunez, 139 N.J.Super. 28, 32-33, 351 A.2d 813 (Law Div.1976) (holding that no such translation is required as a predicate to a refusal violation). The defense, meanwhile, contended that, given the undisputed language barrier here, a translation of the standard statement was necessary in order to convict defendant beyond a reasonable doubt of a refusal.

The municipal judge found defendant guilty of all three cited violations. The judge concluded that the DWI violation was sufficiently established by the "strong odor of alcohol" from defendant, his "stumbling out of the car," and his "bracing himself against the car as he walked." The judge also was satisfied that the proofs sufficed to support a careless driving violation.

With respect to the refusal charge, the municipal judge noted that he had observed the videotape twice, which clearly showed that Officer Lugo had read the prescribed standard statement to defendant in English.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Maria C. Manata v. Francisco A. Pereira
93 A.3d 774 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2014)
State v. Rodriguez-Alejo
15 A.3d 876 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2011)
State v. Marquez
998 A.2d 421 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2010)
State v. Kim
989 A.2d 864 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
974 A.2d 1092, 408 N.J. Super. 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-marquez-njsuperctappdiv-2009.