State of New Jersey v. Diane Monaco, 134 A.3d 997

Background

On April 14, 2012 Diane Monaco drove through a stop sign, jumped a curb and stopped on a lawn; the airbag deployed. She was arrested after officers smelled alcohol and observed slurred speech and poor field sobriety performance.
At the station officers observed Monaco for ~20 minutes, during which she admitted drinking wine and used her asthma inhaler; officers testified she did not regurgitate or put anything in her mouth.
Monaco attempted the Alcotest but produced inadequate volumes (.7, 1.0, .5 liters); the officer terminated testing after three attempts and she was charged with DUI and refusal.
At the municipal trial Monaco presented medical evidence (Dr. Scolamiero) that she had moderate obstructive lung disease and may have been physically unable to meet the Alcotest minimum volumes; a pulmonology expert and a lay witness also testified.
Municipal court convicted; on trial de novo (Law Division) the court again convicted, finding probable cause, that the 20-minute observation complied with Chun, and that Monaco failed to prove incapacity to perform the breath test.
On appeal Monaco challenged probable cause, officers’ credibility, Chun observation compliance, use of an outdated standard statement (no mention of ignition interlock), alleged evidence tampering, and that medical proof excused refusal. The Appellate Division affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Probable cause to arrest for DWI	Officers had probable cause based on crash, odor, appearance, slurred speech and failed FSTs	Arrest was unsupported because FSTs were improperly administered and officers were not credible	Probable cause existed under totality of circumstances even without FSTs; convictions affirmed
Credibility of police witnesses	Police testimony was credible and consistent	Monaco contested officers’ observations and video integrity	Trial courts credited officers over Monaco; appellate review defers to those credibility findings
Twenty-minute Chun observation	State maintained officers and matron remained close enough to observe and prevent interference	Monaco claimed she left briefly to use restroom and video was tampered with	Court found clear and convincing evidence observation requirement met; eye contact not required
Standard statement omission (ignition interlock)	Omission was inconsequential and not shown to affect her decision	Monaco argued outdated statement deprived her of informed choice (no mention of interlock)	Under O’Driscoll materiality test, omission was not shown to be material here; conviction stands
Burden to prove medical incapacity to provide required breath volume	State: defendant must prove incapacity by competent evidence	Monaco: medical evidence showed asthma/low FEV and inability to reach Alcotest minima	Defendant bears burden to prove incapacity; court found medical testimony inconsistent and did not establish incapacity; refusal proven

Key Cases Cited

State v. Bealor, 187 N.J. 574 (recognition that probable cause may be found from accident, odor, appearance)
State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54 (Alcotest administration standards and 20-minute observation requirement)
State v. O'Driscoll, 215 N.J. 461 (materiality test for errors in reading the implied-consent standard statement)
State v. Marquez, 202 N.J. 485 (elements and burdens in a refusal prosecution)
State v. Leavitt, 107 N.J. 534 (defendant bears burden to show confusion precluding refusal)
State v. Johnson, 42 N.J. 146 (deference to trial court credibility findings)
State v. Locurto, 157 N.J. 463 (appellate review standards; two-court rule)
State v. Hammond, 118 N.J. 306 (motor-vehicle violations governed outside general criminal liability principles)
State v. Morris, 262 N.J. Super. 413 (probable cause context from single-car accident)