Over the limit, under arrest, unless you're a judge and refuse the breath test

We've all seen those public service advertisements "Over the limit, under arrest!. They're interspersed one-for-one with the Coors Lite and Miller Lite beer ads during every football game. The cop asks, "have you been drinking tonight sir?" as gallons of beer pour out of the car window. Stepped up enforcement, they will find you and put you under arrest.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you get caught, just pull "the old Stanley Rizzolo trick". What's that? You never heard of it? Well, pull up a chair!

Stanley Rizzolo knows how to beat a drunk driving charge. He ought to, he's a municipal court judge who hears DWI cases on a regular basis. Before that he was a county prosecutor specializing in, you guessed it, DWI convictions.

So when Lavallette, NJ police pulled Rizzolo over in the wee hours of an August Saturday morning he was ready with the perfect charade. He admitted he'd been drinking at the Surf Club, a popular Jersey shore hangout. The officer smelled alcohol on his breath. But take a sobriety test? Not him! He claimed "vertigo", then "back trouble", then became beligerent and laid down in the backseat of the police car.

In New Jersey (and probably in most other states too) refusal to take the Breathalyzer test is automatic assumption of guilt. The mandatory punishment for a first time offender is 7 months to 1 year license suspension, a $300-$500 fine, and 12 hours minimum IDRC.

Rizzolo was charged with driving under the influence, refusing to take a Breathalyzer test, reckless driving, obstruction of justice and violating a local loud and unusual noise ordinance.

If you or I were facing those kind of charges we'd be in deep doo-doo. Those TV commercials make that quite clear. But not if you handle it like Stanley Rizzolo! He walked out of court yesterday with a slap on the wrist — one count of careless driving.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Hoffman ruled that Rizzolo was "not guilty" of refusing to take a Breathalyzer test, even though Rizzolo refused to take a Breathalyzer test. How does that work, exactly?

Claim you had a panic attack! Make a scene! Lie down in the back of the police car! Tell 'em your name is Stanley Rizzolo!

It's worth a shot. I think though, you gotta be a judge, and have friends who are judges, and a father who's also a former municipal judge. That probably helps, a lot. Birds of a feather, and all that.

Justice is blind, but apparently not deaf. I think I have "vertigo".

Posted at 10:37 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   Comments | Perm Link |
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