Criminal case against Sgt. Marc Dennis has brought some 20,000 DWI cases into question.
FREEHOLD -- A New Jersey State Police sergeant accused of lying about performing legally required checks on alcohol breath-testing devices pleaded not guilty Monday to official misconduct and records tampering charges.
Sgt. Marc Dennis did not speak during his arraignment in front of Judge Richard English in Superior Court in Monmouth County
After the court appearance, his attorney, Robert Ebberup, said the sergeant was "innocent of the charges brought against him."
"We have faith in the justice process," Ebberup said. "In the end, my client will be fully vindicated."
Dennis was released without bail following his appearance. He has been charged with second-degree official misconduct, third-degree tampering with public records and fourth degree falsifying records. State prosecutors have not offered a plea deal.
The criminal case against Dennis, a coordinator in the State Police Alcohol Drug Testing Unit, has jeopardized some 20,000 drunken driving convictions across New Jersey because the unit performs routine checks on machines used by local police departments.
Dennis was criminally charged in September after a supervisor allegedly caught him skipping a required step in the calibration of the machines approved by the state's Supreme Court to test DWI suspects, which are known as Alcotest devices.
20K DWI cases in the air. Now what?
The sergeant remains suspended without pay over the accusations, in which he was accused of deliberately omitting a temperature check in re-calibrating just a handful of devices.
But records obtained by NJ Advance Media show state authorities are concerned the disclosure could undermine convictions in any case involving a machine Dennis tested across Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union counties.
Prosecutors maintain the temperature check Dennis is accused of skipping was not scientifically necessary, but it is required under procedures created to comply with a state Supreme Court decision regarding the admissibility of DWI test results, known as State v. Chun.
DWI lawyers previously told NJ Advance Media the temperature check was a crucial step meant to ensure citizens aren't convicted of drunken driving based on a faulty machine reading.
They argue that because penalties for DWI can hinge on the precise level of intoxication, any departure from standard procedure can undermine the machines' findings.
The state Division of Criminal Justice has requested a special judge be appointed to handle a potential glut of legal challenges. That request is still before the Supreme Court, according to a judiciary spokesman.
The state also faces a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of potentially thousands of people convicted based on results from machines Dennis calibrated.
S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.