TRENTON Even though a hearing on the reliability of a new breath test for suspected drunken drivers has not yet been conducted, the state Supreme Court has ordered judges throughout the state to accept its results as evidence in prosecuting DWI cases. The court also said most sentences for those convicted with evidence from the Alcotest 7110 MKIII-C should be put on hold until the Supreme Court rules on the machine’s dependability. The order from the state’s highest court lifts freezes on hundreds of drunken driver prosecutions that were put on hold last year by judges after defense lawyers raised concerns about the machine. The Alcotest has replaced the Breathalyzer in 10 of the 21 counties and is to be in the others by November. The Supreme Court advised judges, when possible, to cite evidence beyond the Alcotest readings such as “objective observational evidence” when sentencing people convicted of drunken driving. But sentences for first offenders would be temporarily stayed unless the trial judge determines that the severity of the crime and the defendant’s record “requires the immediate execution of the sentence,” the court said. The legal threshold for intoxication in New Jersey is 0.08 percent. The Alcotest uses two independent, simultaneous methods to analyze a suspect’s breath to determine the level of intoxication: infrared light and an electrochemical reaction. It produces a printout with both readings. The Breathalyzer requires its operator to compare the difference in the amount of light coming from two tubes of chemicals. The suspect’s breath is introduced to one tube, which darkens if alcohol is detected.