Police must make "reasonable efforts" to notify a motorist about to be given a breath test if they are aware that an attorney has entered the case, a Brooklyn appeals court has ruled.
Taking up a matter of first impression involving the right to counsel under the state Constitution, a 3-1 panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, held in People v. Washington, 2011-07259, "that when the police are aware that an attorney has appeared in a case where a motorist has consented to a chemical breath test, the police are obligated to exercise reasonable efforts to inform the motorist of counsel’s appearance if such notification will not substantially interfere with the timely administration of the test."
