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A New Jersey State police officer was dispatched to Indiana in 2019 to represent state law enforcement at the funeral of an Indiana State Trooper, but he never made it to the service. Instead, Michael Kulik, of Livingston, found himself pulled over around 1:00 a.m., hours before the funeral. West Lafayette, Indiana, police officers noticed that the civilian vehicle he was driving was behaving erratically, and after determining that Kulik was likely drunk, he was arrested. His blood alcohol content was recorded as 0.19%.

Kulik pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated in a Tippecanoe County, Indiana court and has now been sentenced to nearly a full year of unsupervised probation. He was originally sentenced to 365 days at the Indiana Department of Corrections for the Class A misdemeanor, but the judge suspended that sentence.

Ultimately, the conviction will be forwarded to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, where determinations will be made about license suspension and other penalties. It is unclear whether Kulik continues to be employed by the New Jersey State Police.

If you’ve been stopped for DUI out of state, protect yourself at home, too. Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation.

New Jersey enacted new penalties for drunk and impaired driving starting on December 1, 2019, but at the time of this writing, there are still cases circulating through the system stemming from incidents that occured prior to that date. That means a lot of people in New Jersey are waiting for their day in court or their sentencing under the old guidelines, which can include lengthy license suspensions.

In one case, a 73-year-old Newton woman named Renay Tripp accepted a plea agreement in the final week of January that imposed a sentence of probation plus a 30-day home detention. Her license was also suspended for seven months, and she will be required to attend 12 hours of classes at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center. There are also fines ($650), restitution ($10,000), and her car will have to have an interlock ignition device installed.

Tripp wasn’t just dealing with a DWI charge. The incident in question was an accident that began when she crossed over double lines and struck an oncoming vehicle, which then struck another vehicle. In all, three people were injured in the crash, including Tripp. Tripp admitted having two cocktails at dinner, but when her blood was tested at the hospital where she was transported following the wreck, it registered at .21%, or almost three times the legal limit.

Because her blood alcohol content was above .15%, she would still face a four to six month license suspension under the revised law, but under the new requirements, a first offender with a BAC below .15% won’t have their license suspended at all.

If you’re facing a DWI charge in New Jersey, an experienced lawyer can be a big help to you. Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyer.