State v. Tischio

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This appeal requires the Court to interpret N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a). This statute makes it unlawful for a person to operate “a motor vehicle ... with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10% or more by weight of alcohol in the [person’s] blood.” Specifically, we must decide whether, under the statute, a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.10%, determined solely by a breathalyzer test that is administered within a reasonable time after a defendant’s arrest for drunk driving, satisfies the statute; or whether extrapolation evidence, which uses the…