REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO BREATH TEST COUNTS AS A PRIOR DWI CONVICTION

The Appellate Division in State v. Ciancaglini, held that a prior conviction for refusing to submit to a breath test will now count as a prior DWI conviction for purposes of sentence enhancement. The defendant had a 1979 DWI conviction and a 2006 Refusal Conviction. The defendant argued that she should be considered a first offender since the only prior DWI case was more than 10-years old and the refusal does not enhance the DWI sentence. The Appellate Division disagreed and held her as a third offender as the refusal conviction must now be regarded as a DWI conviction for sentencing purposes.