DUI and Injury to Child - Dismissed
Facts of the Case
I recently had a client that was charged with a DUI and two counts of Injury to Child. The client was involved in an accident on HWY 19 where he went of the road, went through a fence and came to rest in a pasture. As the picture shows, the damage to the vehicle was severe.
Police were called to the scene and began a DUI investigation. My client smelled like alcohol, had red, bloodshot eyes, and admitted drinking alcohol. After searching his vehicle, officers found an open 12-pack of beer in the back seat. Based on this information, the officer administered field sobriety tests, which my client failed (all three). A breath test was given and my client blew a .143.
Attack
Immediately, I ordered the instrument logs for the breath test machine. I noticed that, for the last 5 months, the machine was malfunctioning. On nine separate occasions the machine was out of tolerance, a fact that put in question every DUI arrest for the last five months. No one at the police station had taken the machine out of service or corrected the malfunction.
Based on the malfunctioning machine, I was able to get the license suspension thrown out and the prosecutor, realizing the breath test results would be inadmissible, dropped the DUI and Injury to Child charges. My client pled guilty to the accident itself.
A thorough investigation into every aspect of this case led to a great result for my client and his family.
Lessons Learned
1. Don't lose hope. My client thought the situation was hopeless. Based on the information he knew at the time, he was probably right. But DUIs are about more than the events surrounding your arrest. Many cases can be won and only after a complete review of all the facts can anyone know the true outcome of a case.
2. Fight for your rights. In this case the machine had been malfunctioning for 5 months! That means that every DUI arrest based on that machine was suspect. It also means that for five months no one had fought their charge, or no attorney had completely reviewed all the facts of the case. Justice was denied to every defendant who was convicted of or pled guilty to a DUI charge based on the inaccurate breath test results.
Jake
Reader Comments (1)
congrats on winning your case. it's so much about you winning. i assume that means you'll accept responsibility for the future poor decisions of the accused? with regard to the child, pray that this type of thing never happens again. chances are that the accused has returned to abusing alcohol, and chances are that you have returned to abusing the system.