NJ Laws Email Newsletter E257
Kenneth Vercammen, Attorney at Law October 9, 2007
In This Issue
_______________
1. Decision on reliability of new DWI breath testing machine delayed.
2. If You are Hurt in an Accident, We Can Help You.
3. Upcoming Great Charity Races
4. Apartment for Rent Edison, NJ
5. Recent and New Web Pages/Articles by Kenneth Vercammen
NJLaws.Com LINKS
Main Website with 500 + articles and 1,000 + links
(732) 572-0500
Greetings,
1. Decision on reliability of new DWI breath testing machine delayed.
The Alcotest 7110 MK III is a new DWI breath testing machine manufactured by National Draeger, Inc., which is made with an internal computer communications feature as a standard capability of the instrument.
The Attorney General selected the Alcotest 7110 MK III machine to replace the breathalyzer as the testing machine for drunk drivers. There have been many challenges to this new Alcotest 7110 MK III DWI breath testing machine.
The Supreme Court in State v Chun appointed retired Appellate Division Presiding Judge Michael Patrick King as Special Master to develop a record, conduct hearings and report his findings and conclusions to the Supreme Court regarding the reliability of the Alcotest device. Judge King submitted his initial report to the Supreme Court on February 13, 2007.
Meanwhile, the question continues to be raised as to how the municipal courts are to proceed with Alcotest cases now that Judge King has submitted his personal report to the Supreme Court. The Administrative Office of the Court reminded all NJ court of the Supreme Court's January 10, 2006 order in the Chun case (emphasis added):
"Ordered that any and all requests for a reliability hearing in respect of Alcotest devices are stayed pending the filing of the Court's final decision herein, at which time all pending challenges to an Alcotest device's reliability shall be decided consistent with the Court's disposition;..."
The Administrative Office of the Court stated that the municipal courts should take no action based on submission of the Judge King report to the Court, either in pending cases or in any post-conviction relief applications. Rather, the courts should wait until the Supreme Court renders its final decision and act in accordance with that decision.
The Supreme Court in the Summer of 2007 permitted defense counsel to have independent experts examine the source code of the machine's computers.
The Supreme Court issued an Order on April 30, 2007 that contemplated an analysis of the software denominated as Firmware version 3.11. The Supreme Court ORDERED that each of the two experts designated by defendants and Draeger shall provide a report to the State, defendants, Draeger, and the Special Master within ninety (90) days of the receipt of the source code consistent with the examination and protective and it is further ORDERED that Draeger shall provide the source codes to the respective experts.
The Supreme Court also ordered:
10/12/07 Testimonial hearings to be completed
(45 days of receipt of experts' report)
10/26/07 Special Master's report due to Supreme Court (14 days from conclusion of hearings)
After over two years of litigation in State v. Chun, approximately 21,000 pages of documents have been disclosed, a 41 day hearing has been held before Judge King spanning 8,500 pages of transcripts, Judge King issued a 268 page opinion, and the case has been briefed and argued before the Supreme Court.
Co-Lead counsel Evan Levow advised that expert Base One did an extensive evaluation, finding 19,400 potential errors in the code.
In a report released August 28, 2007, Base One determined:
As a matter of public safety, the Alcotest should be suspended from use until the software has been reviewed against an acceptable set of software development standards, and recoded and tested if necessary. An incorrect breath test could lead to accidents and possible loss of life, because the device might not detect a person who is under the influence, and that person would be allowed to drive. The possibility also exists that a person not under the influence could be wrongly accused and/or convicted.
Draeger reviewed the code, as well, through its software house, SysTest Labs, which agreed with Base One, that the patchwork code that makes up the 7110 is not written well, nor is it written to any defined coding standard. SysTest said, "The Alcotest NJ3.11 source code appears to have evolved over numerous transitions and versioning, which is responsible for cyclomatic complexity."
The best thing SysTest said about the machine was, "The translation from German to English of the comments within the major components shows the logical intent of the programmers to produce reliable and valid test results. SysTest was unable to find any evidence of any intention to mis-direct or re-direct the test results or report anything other than valid results."
SysTest only looked for "mal-ware", not for functioning of the code. Base One, however, did an extensive evaluation, finding 19,400 potential errors in the code.
The Supreme Court will not decide whether this Alcotest 7110 machine is reliable for several additional months.
Additional Information on the Summary of the Software, submitted by Co-Lead counsel Evan Levow, is at http://njlaws.com/alcotest.htm
2. If You are Hurt in an Accident, We Can Help.
If you are hurt in a car, slip and fall or other type of accident, please call us. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality of legal representation to accident victims. We represent accident victims only- Not insurance companies. We will fight for your rights and try to resolve your claim as fast as possible, with the goal being to obtain the maximum compensation for you. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation.
3. Upcoming Great Charity Races
10/13/07 Sayreville Hit the Bricks 5 mile 732-390-7092
10/13/07 Metuchen YMCA
10/13/07 Rat race- Wall
10/14/07 Lupus 4 mile Cranford
10/21/07 Sunday East Brunswick 1pm RVRR well run event Road closed to traffic 848-391-0200. ebrrinc@gmail.com www.ebrr.org
10/28/07 Trick or Trot 4 mile run 4 mile Long Branch
Oct. 28 Frost on the Pumpkin 10k South River date TBA Cool winner mugs, secret free beer?, big hill
11/4/07 Sunday RUN with the VIKINGS 5K 10:00 AM South Brunswick High School, South Brunswick, NJ Bob Tona's great event
11/11/07 Hashathon 6 Mile 6 mile Cheesequake challenging, dangerous trails, Free beer, best post race party with band, 732-542-6090
11/17/07 Manasquan Turkey Trot 5 mile Manasquan
11/22/07 ASHENFELTER 8K CLASSIC, 9am, Glen Ridge, 973-748-0093, (NBGP-700pts)
11/23/07 Born to Run 5 mile Freehold Friday Free beer at Court Jester tavern
11/25/07 Navesink Challenge 15k and 5k, 9am, 5k, 9:10 Middletown, NJ 732-542-6090 Quality JSRC event with Race director Dave Z.
12/1/07 Metuchen 5k
12/2/07 Reindeer Romp 5k Point Pleasant plenty of post race food, discount drinks
12/8/07 Bar A Jingle Bell Run 5k Lake Como
12/9/07 Toys for Tots 5k Freehold
12/9 USATF-NJ 10 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP, 11am Mercer County Park, West Windsor, 973-334-890 USATF members only
12/29 Polar Bear Races 5k Asbury Park 5mi Run, 1pm, 732-222-9080 Free Polar Plunge swim in Atlantic Ocean after race.
12/29 Ramona's Run 4 mile, 4pm Perth Amboy, NJ 732-381-0318
Jan. 5, 2008 Freezing Cold Hash run, Edison, NJ -Start Ken Vercammen Law Office, 2053 Woodbridge Ave, Edison 732-572-0500 Adventure trail run, not a formal race. Featured on TV News12 NJ and Cablevision.
4. Apartment For Rent - Edison, NJ
Apartment for Rent in Edison, NJ - 1 Bedroom, 2nd Floor, and all utilities included. Woodbridge Avenue, near Route 1. Private Parking $950/month. Available Immediately.
Call (732) 824-7607
5. Recent and New Web Pages/Articles by Kenneth Vercammen
What is an Expert Witness in a DWI case, If you are charged with Driving While Under the Influence?
What is a Deposition?
Caveat to Will
2007 Police Week
Victim's Rights
Kenneth Vercammen is a licensed Real Estate Agent
Kenneth Vercammen's eaking Engagements
Thank you for reading our newsletter! God Bless America USA #1
Our updated law blogs:
NJLaws' Newsletter Blog-http://njlaws1.blogspot.com/
NJ Criminal Law Blog - http://njcriminallaw.blogspot.com/
NJ Traffic Law & Municipal Court Blog - http://traffic-law.blogspot.com/
NJ Personal Injury & Civil Law Blog- http://njlawspersonalinjury.blogspot.com/
NJ Elder Law Blog -http://elder-law.blogspot.com/
NJ Drug Law Blog - http://drugarrest.blogspot.com/
We appreciate continued referrals. We want to take the time to extend to our friends and clients our sincere gratitude because it is good friends and clients that make our business grow. Client recommendation is a very important source of new clients to us. We are grateful for the recommendation of new clients. We will do our best to give all clients excellent care. We shall do our best to justify all recommendations.
"Celebrating more than 21 years of providing excellent service to clients 1985-2007" Former Prosecutor
This newsletter is produced to be sent electronically. If you know someone who would also like to receive this email newsletter, please have them email us at newsletter@njlaws.com.
Free T- shirts and soda can holders available for all current and past clients. Please come into office.
Editor's Note and Disclaimer:
All materials Copyright 2007. You may pass along the information on the NJ Laws Newsletter and website, provided the name and address of the Law Office is included.
KENNETH VERCAMMEN & ASSOCIATES, PC
ATTORNEY AT LAW
2053 Woodbridge Ave.
Edison, NJ 08817
(Phone) 732-572-0500
(Fax) 732-572-0030
website: www.njlaws.com
Admitted to practice law in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, US Supreme Court and Federal District Court
