DWI Trial: BAC of 0.16 and a Not Guilty Verdict

I got a few calls about my recent DWI trial so I figured I should tell the story. Despite a breath test showing a BAC of 0.16, the jury found my client not guilty.Here are some details:For starters, breath tests are not reliable -- see my post on breath test videos for some idea. Also key - in this case my client was innocent. For a variety of reasons, I have no doubt whatsoever.My client, a

Confrontation Clause in New York

In January the US Supreme Court reaffirmed its recent decision about the Confrontation Clause. The new case is Briscoe v. Virginia. I wrote about this in the context of DWI in NY - Melendez-Diaz.New York's highest Court addressed Melendez-Diaz. Here are some quotes from People v. Brown (11/2009 - 13 NY3d 332):The main issue raised on appeal is whether defendant's Sixth Amendment right to

The Supreme Court on the DWI Exception to the Constitution

The Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal on a drunk driving case that was dismissed. Virginia's highest court threw out the conviction in Harris v. Commonwealth (a pdf file). It found that the stop was unconstitutional - based only on an anonymous tip.Chief Justice Roberts (and Justice Scalia) felt the Court should have reviewed the case. Below are some excerpts of Roberts' opinion). His

DWI Story: Listening to the Radio While Intoxicated

For a new kick, I'm starting a series of stories about past cases I've handled. This one's a DWI story, from a few years ago. As part of my pattern for stories about cases, some elements will be fictionalized mainly to protect the client. In this case there was a trial, so the truth is really a matter of public record, though practically it would be difficult to find the record if you don't know

NY DWI, Crawford and Melendez-Diaz

It looks like NY DWI cases will become more interesting in light of Melendez-Diaz (129 S.Ct. 2527), which just came down from the Supreme Court in late June. That case follows on the 2004 Crawford (541 US 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354) decision on the Confrontation Clause in the Sixth Amendment.The defendant in a criminal case has the right to confront his accusers. Melendez-Diaz holds that lab technicians

Garage Party - A Fun Way to Reduce DWI

We had a garage party last night. With all the DWI cases I handle where people had a few drinks and then drove home, this idea came to me. Wouldn't it be nice if you could go somewhere, have a few drinks, and not worry about driving home?There's more to this. First, one of the motivators was that we now have a refrigerator in our garage. We bought new appliances. While we got rid of the others,

NY, DWI, Ignition Interlock, and MADD

Great story on Capital News 9 last night. The NY State Assembly has a bill (A-7196) that would require ignition interlock devices for everyone convicted of DWI. Specifics from the bill are below.In the News 9 story, Laura Dean-Mooney of MADD said: "If there are detectable levels of alcohol, their car simply will not start." So in other words, if you have any alcohol on your breath whatsoever,

DWI Consequences: Travel to Canada

DWI lawyers frequently get clients who just want the case over with. We lawyers can usually get the charge reduced to DWAI. Then everything's hunky-dory, right?Here's a sobering lesson from a client who took a DWAI:is there ANY WAY to get this charge changed to something else?? i cross the canadian border A LOT for work, and every time i cross i have to pay $200 canadian, and risk not getting in

Albany DWI "Blanket Patrol"

Big news in Albany - this past weekend had a "blanket patrol" per Capital News 9.Nice bit from the story - 944 traffic stops and 21 "drunk driving" arrests. If I've got this right, they interrupted the lives of about 1100 people (figuring 1.2 people per car) to make 21 arrests.Also seems like 21 DWI arrests on a weekend for 11 municipalities is less than normal, not more. Maybe they should just

NY DWI: Why low BAC cases should be fought

I got a call the other day from a prospective DWI client. His BAC was 0.16. It's already difficult in Albany to negotiate a reduction with a BAC that high. But it's worse than that. He had a previous DUI offense 3 years earlier and his lawyer pled him to a DWAI. That causes a big problem - he is ineligible for a conditional license. This guy won't be driving for at least a year.On the prior

Speeding ticket and DWI data

Interesting data on the web about speeding tickets on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle website. There's another data set on DWI: RocDocs DWI.Now, I say the data is interesting. Partly that's because it doesn't look accurate to me. For example it appears there are more DWI arrests in Albany County than in the Bronx. And there also appear to be no speeding tickets in New York City.But it's

Albany: DWI and Mass Transit

Here's an article in the Times Union. Albany County couldn't get a program together to provide free bus rides home for New Years Eve drinkers. For various reasons we ended up with nothing at all.Government is just fine at getting the arrest and prosecution programs together. Prevention must be too difficult.I wrote an article about the policy choice between mass transit versus DUI enforcement

DWI: To Blow or Not to Blow

One thing comes up a lot in DWI seminars. A client calls you late at night. They've been arrested and the cop wants them to blow into the "Breathalyzer". In most of NY the device is actually a Datamaster, but question is the same. And to be clear, I'm talking about the breath test in the station. The one in the field is commonly known as an alcosensor or field breath screen.The answer varies from

Pringle Hearing and the DWI Prompt Suspension

In handling our DWI cases, the "prompt suspension law" has been bothering me, along with a number of other issues. I first wrote about this a couple years ago as part of a post about judges who have policies. So now I'm going to rant about what's wrong with the prompt suspension and how Pringle v. Wolfe (88 N.Y.2d 426 (1996)) is being applied (or misapplied).For those who don't know, here's what

DWI Defense Perspectives

I had the honor of speaking at a DWI seminar this past week. There were some excellent speakers, and a few of us presented a sharp contrast on how to handle DWI cases.My topic was low BAC cases. I talked about some things lawyers can do when the defendant's blood-alcohol content is low. Mainly I was focused on BACs below 0.10, but some of the ideas apply when the BAC is up to maybe 0.12. My

Albany DWI Seminar

You know the world's in trouble when I'm speaking at a seminar. There will be a Lorman CLE on DWI in Albany on December 4th. I will talk about handling low BAC cases. Should be interesting.

Smelly Returns

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog post about a DWI lawyer I referred to as Smelly. This was not a reference to any odor, but rather a play on his name. I've never even met the guy, and have only talked - briefly - with one lawyer who has worked with him.I mentioned in that post a perception among DWI lawyers about him. Well, now I found some gold. See the website and video below:http://

Albany DWI and DA Soares' New Policy

Kudos to the Times Union for breaking an important legal news story. The Albany District Attorney's office has adopted a new policy regarding plea bargains in drunk driving cases.For starters, a big chunk of the policy depends on the accused person's blood alcohol content, or BAC. Also, the accused must also complete an "alcohol evaluation" before there will be any plea bargain offer.If the BAC

Schenectady DWI

We handle DWI in the Schenectady area. It seems like most of the cases we see occur in the towns, like Rotterdam, Duanesburg and Glenville. Of course there are some in the City of Schenectady as well. We certainly see more DWI and DWAI cases in Albany County. And we see more Saratoga DWI cases too. For Albany it seems obvious why -- bigger area, and maybe we have a closer connection to Albany.

Another DWI Win

I mentioned that we keep winning DWI cases in a recent post. Well, we won another one. This time the DA responded very late to an "omnibus motion" (well after the judge had already given them a generous extension). While we were waiting, I made a further motion for dismissal on speedy trial grounds. The DA did not oppose the speedy trial motion.I'd like to claim that we're brilliant, and we're