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Jason Caulfield, 23, is “trying to get his life back together,” Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi said in rejecting a request to send him to the county jail for 364 days.
Prison would be a hardship, the judge said, adding: “I don’t want to interrupt his schedule of medication.”
Along with probation, DeAvila-Silebi ordered Caulfield to attend Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, submit to random drug and alcohol testing and pay $1,400 in fines.
Once his driver’s license is reinstated, Caulfied must keep a breath alcohol ignition lock on his car for three years.
If he violates the probationary terms, he’ll go to prison for up to 18 months, she said.
“Thank you, your honor,” Caulfield said.
Caulfield admitted that he was drunk when his 2010 BMW 135i crossed the double-yellow center lines on Colonial Road in Franklin Lakes around 2:30 a.m. June 28, 2013 and barreled into a grassy area next to the oncoming lane, where it hit a utility pole and overturned, trapping him and his passenger, 21-year-old Donald Fletcher of Wyckoff.
Both men were taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. And although Fletcher’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, authorities said they were very serious.
“I am very, very sorry,” Caulfield told the judge today.
Defense attorney Michael DeMarco said Caulfield had suffered from psychiatric problems and alcohol addiction for years but has taken steps to face them.
DeMarco also contended that medication his client was taking at the time contributed to the crash.
“Over the past two years, he has addressed his behavior,” he said, adding that Caulfield was “very immature” at the time of the accident.
Caulfield “has a very strong and supportive family structure,” DeMarco said, noting that his mother has attended all of her son’s court appearances the past two years.
Family members voluntarily installed breath alcohol ignition locking devices on all of their vehicles, he added.
Caulfield, who had a previous unindictable arrest for drunk driving before the accident, has developed a passion for health and fitness, and begins a six-month course next month to become a licensed personal trainer, his attorney told the judge.
STORY / PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia
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