DWI Plea Bargaining allowed now

Pursuant to N.J. Const. Art. Vl., sec. 2 par. 3, it is ORDERED that, effectiveimmediately and until further order, the “Guidelines for Operation of Plea Agreements inthe Municipal Courts of New Jersey,” which is an Appendix to Part Vll of the RulesGoverning the Courts of the State of New Jersey, are supplemented and relaxed so asto permit plea agreements in post-conviction relief cases affected by the Supreme Courtdecision in State v. Eileen Cassidy, 235 N.J. 482 (2018).This limited rule relaxation applies only to post-conviction relief proceedings inwhich evidential breath samples from defendants in driving while intoxicated (DW)cases were procured using Alcotest machines calibrated without using a NIST-traceablethermometer, namely, the approximately 13,000 cases that involve findings of guilt,either by trial or by plea, referred to in the Court’s January 29,2019 order thatdesignated a Special Master to make judicial and administrative decisions in mattersaffected by the Court’s decision in Cassidy.ln allother aspects, including for all cases not affected by the Court’s decision inCassidy, the “Guidelines for Operation of Plea Agreements in the Municipal Courts ofNew Jersey” remain in full force and effect.For the Court,—r- \)—\ Y (–),\ – -t \-+Chief JusticeDated: December 18, 2019