Representative Cases
- 53-YEAR-OLD VETERAN with 25 years service in the U.S. Army charged with Driving Under The Influence, Driving with Excessive Alcohol Content and Careless Driving. Client had previously been convicted of Driving While Ability was Impaired in 1995 and had lost his license for 90 days as a result (prior case not handled by our attorneys). Client's employment required he maintain a valid drivers license. Client's breath alcohol test was over a .250 (two and a half times the legal limit for DUI and five time the limit for DWAI). Our independent retest of the breath sample revealed a .165 result. A variance of this magnitude may give rise to expert testimony that the states testing may not be reliable. It is our policy to obtain a retest in every case. At the Department of Motor Vehicle administrative hearing to revoke our client's license our attorneys were able to convince the administrative law judge to return the license. The persuasive argument was that the police lacked a reasonable suspicion to contact our client because they did not adequately articulate the alleged careless driving.
- The court case resulted in a 1 year Deferred Sentence with all charges to be dismissed upon completion of 50 public service hours and alcohol education classes. No conviction entered and no loss of license was suffered.
- 59-YEAR-OLD POWER LINE WORKER Charged with Driving While Ability Impaired, Driving Without Insurance and Weaving. Breath Alcohol Testing revealed a .099 and our retest was not helpful in this case. According to the police our client failed all roadside sobriety tests. Client had 3 prior drunk driving convictions and had been previously classified a Habitual Traffic Offender (all prior cases not handled by our attorneys). The District Attorney's only offer was to plead guilty to DWAI and get the maximum sentence of 6 months jail. Our attorneys filed motions contesting the nature of the police contact, questioning and arrest of our client. Our motion was granted and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
- 44-YEAR-OLD COMPUTER TECHNICIAN Charged with Driving Under the Influence and Weaving. Client had no prior charges or convictions for drunk driving. The client was contacted by police and took a blood test, which resulted in a .159 result. The District Attorney offered to lower the charge to DWAI and require alcohol classes and public service. Our attorneys, while reviewing the court documents, discovered that the court had inadvertently set the client's case outside of the speedy trial right guaranteed to all citizens. The District Attorney had no choice but to dismiss the case in its entirety.
- 20-YEAR-OLD TOURIST VISITING COLORADO Charged with Driving Under The Influence and Driving Without a Valid Drivers License. Client contacted us from out of state. He had failed to request a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing (must be done within 7 days) and was concerned about having to return to Colorado to face the charges. The client had refused to take a breath or blood test and was revoked from driving in Colorado for 1 year. Our attorneys contacted the Deputy District Attorney and were able to persuade the Deputy District Attorney that the police officer had improperly followed our client. The Deputy District Attorney agreed to grant our client a 2 year deferred sentence with 48 hours of public service and an alcohol education class. No conviction will ever enter and our client was not required to return to Colorado. We regret that our client did not contact us sooner so that we could have endeavored to save his driving privilege in Colorado. However, his driver's license in his home state has never been affected.
- 67-YEAR-OLD DISABLED U.S. ARMY COMBAT VETERAN Charged with Driving Under The Influence and Driving With Excessive Alcohol Content, and Making an Illegal Left Turn. He was involved in an injury accident when he failed to see an oncoming vehicle and turned directly into that lane of traffic. The police were called and our client admitted drinking numerous mixed drinks. Our client could not successfully complete any of the requested roadside maneuvers including reciting the ABC's. The state's blood alcohol result was a .245 and our retest was not helpful. Our client had a good, but not perfect driving record. We were able to avoid a 90 day administrative revocation at the Department of Motor Vehicles hearing due to the police officers failure to appear. Prior to negotiations our client, at our suggestion, completed an alcohol education class and 75 hours of public service. Our Attorneys persuaded the deputy district attorney to dismiss the charges of making an illegal left turn and Driving With Excessive Alcohol Content. The Driving Under the Influence charge was reduced to Driving While Ability Impaired. This reduction allowed our client to maintain his driving privileges. No fine or probationary period were imposed.
|
