RED BANK: FATAL CRASH SUSPECT HAD TWO PRIOR DUIS. HOW WAS HE ALLOWED TO DRIVE?

Photo of the crash scene courtesy of The Lakewood Scoop. (Click to enlarge.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

The Red Bank man charged with killing a mother and daughter in a Lakewood car crash had already been charged twice this year with driving under the influence, but may have been allowed to keep driving legally because of a statewide pause on thousands of DUI cases involving a new unproven breathalyzer machine, court officials, prosecutors and defense attorneys tell redgankgreen.

Raul Luna-Perez, 43, has been charged with two counts of aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the July 24 crash that killed Maria Pleitez (pictured below at center) and her daughter Dayanara Cortes, age 11.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office last week upgraded the charges against Luna-Perez and said he had been crossing the yellow line, driving 60 miles per hour, and likely had a blood alcohol content three times over the legal limit at the time of the crash.

Described by the US Department of Homeland Security officials as an “illegal alien,” he was briefly detained by US Customs and Immigration Enforcement before being returned to the Ocean County Jail.

It was far from the first time in recent months that police say Luna-Perez was driving drunk and recklessly.

On March 20, Luna-Perez was arrested and charged with DUI, driving with an open container, reckless driving, and other violations by Officer Luke Cahill on Bank Street, court records show.

Raul Luna-Perez: Photo via Ocean County Sheriff’s Office inmate locator.

He was arrested again on April 17 at the corner of Tilton Avenue and West Sunset by Officer Grace Maggiuli and charged with driving under the influence.

In both cases, he had court dates at Red Bank Municipal Court several weeks after his arrest.

And in both cases, instead of having a trial or hearings in which he could have had his license suspended or been ordered to install an ignition interlock device on his car, the case was put on hold, according to both the Red Bank Municipal Court administrator and municipal prosecutor.

The two cases are among what Red Bank prosecutor William McGuinn estimated is between 50 and 100 DUI cases put on hold over the past three years in Red Bank alone.

Statewide, defense attorneys say, the number of cases stuck in legal limbo has soared into the thousands.

The cases were put on hold to allow an appellate court judge to conduct a review to “determine the scientific reliability” of the Alcotest 9510 breathalyzer machine rolled out across the state over the past three years.

John Hogan, a defense attorney with the firm Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, called it a “massive backlog” that has turned into a years-long legal morass for victims, defendants, and municipal courts around the state.

“We have a machine in New Jersey that people are getting tested on every day for breath test results for DWI, today and over the last several years, that are not yet admissible in court, and that’s as simple as it is,” he said. “And because of that, these cases generally cannot proceed.”

McGuinn, the Red Bank prosecutor, declined to comment specifically on the Luna-Perez case, but said the delays are a public safety concern.

“Generally speaking, the issue of defendants not being adjudicated for pending DWIs because these matters are stayed, certainly creates a public safety issue, at no fault of police departments or prosecutors,” he said. “Absent unique circumstances, there’s not much that can be done to push these cases towards resolution, which ultimately could be suspension of driving privileges or a requirement that they use an interlock device.”

The issue is one that has been entirely absent from the firestorm of state and national political finger-pointing sparked by the tragedy in Lakewood.

Several days after his arrest, US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Luna Perez a “criminal illegal alien” who had avoided deportation after his previous DUI arrests as well as a 2023 arrest for domestic violence, because of Gov. Phil Murphy’s so-called “sanctuary” immigration policies that limit local law enforcement’s involvement in immigration matters.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciatarelli also cited the case in an attack on his Democratic opponent in the November Election, Mike Sherrill.

In turn, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphy said Luna-Perez should “not have been allowed behind the wheel and should have already been deported.”

“The Governor believes that Mr. Luna-Perez, who had been arrested multiple times for DUI and domestic violence, should not have been allowed behind the wheel and should have already been deported due to his dangerous criminal activity,” Murphy spokesperson Mahen Gunartana wrote in an exchange with Politico.com.

If he had been convicted in either of his DUI cases this spring, Luna-Perez would likely have had his license suspended or been required to install an ignition interlock device on his car.

While the issue is murkier, convictions could have made it more likely for Luna-Perez to land on the radar of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation.

But both cases have been stayed indefinitely amid the now 26-month pause on cases involving the new breath analysis machine.

The problem began more than two years ago when police began using a new Alcotest 9510 machine as part of a limited phase-in that would start in Monmouth County and eventually expand statewide. The machine replaced an older Alcotest model being phased out by the manufacturer.

While the machine had been approved by the state Office of Attorney General, its results were challenged on appeal in a case entitled State v. Cunningham.

On May 1, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a Notice to the Bar appointing appellate court Judge Richard J. Geiger to serve as a Special Master to “develop a record, conduct hearings, and make findings and conclusions regarding the scientific reliability of the 9510.”

The order requires judges and prosecutors to put on hold any cases in which prosecutors’ main evidence is the breath test administered by police using the Alcotest 9510.

As the use of the new machine spread to nearly every county in the state, the number of cases put on hold has soared. Several defense attorneys told redbankgreen they guess the total is in the thousands.

In an email with the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, spokesman Peter McAleer said officials had not determined how many cases in total are stuck in limbo.

“Judge Geiger is determined to move the case as quickly as possible now that litigation regarding the payment of experts’ fees and other costs is resolved,” he said. “A mandatory case conference is scheduled for Friday, at which time strict deadlines will be imposed for all submissions, with the goal of reaching a resolution.”

In the meantime, a post on the New Jersey State Bar Association website advises attorneys that a final decision could come this fall. Hogan, the defense attorney, is advising clients in DUI cases not to expect movement on their cases for at least a year, as thousands of backlogged cases begin to move through the courts.

“I have clients on hold who would really like to put these things behind them,” he said. “It’s an immense backlog, and it’s a frustrating backlog for people who are stuck.”

He emphasized he was speculating, but Hogan said the case in which Luna-Perez plowed his Dodge Durango head-on into another car, killing two people, underscores the other potentially more deadly outcome of the delays.

“And what you’re describing is even worse, “he said. “If one or two of these cases had been resolved, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.