2017 Rhode Island Drunk Driving Defense Victories

CHARGE: 
(1) FIRST OFFENSE DUI (BAC GREATER THAN 0.15)
POLICE REPORT:  Our Client had been arrested after crashing her vehicle into a number of parked cars on a residential street.  Another motorist had approached her vehicle after the accident and called the Police.  When the Police arrived, they formed the conclusion that our Client was heavily intoxicated and had her submit to standardized field sobriety testing.  At the conclusion of the test the Police formed the opinion that our Client was under the influence of alcohol and arrested her on suspicion of DUI.  When they returned to the Police Station, they requested that she submit to a chemical breath test and she agreed.  The results of the chemical breath test indicated that her blood alcohol content was over 0.22, nearly 3 times the legal limit.  After we were hired to defend the case, we conducted our complete and detailed review of the case, the arrest, and the police investigation. Our detailed review uncovered that the Police made a major error by reading our Client the wrong rights form.  Prior to taking the breath test, the Police had read our Client the "Juvenile" rights form instead of the appropriate adult rights form for our Client, who is over 50 years old.  This error would have rendered the chemical breath test results inadmissible in our Client's DUI trial.  Based on this issue we raised, we were able to negotiate a compromised resolution of the case in which the Prosecution agreed to drop the charge from DUI to reckless driving with the understanding that our Client would have to successfully complete a number of tasks in the coming year.
RESULT: 
(1) DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING and the case was Filed for one year filing with a four month loss of license, $500 charitable contribution, Alcohol Counseling, 20 hours of community service and court costs on December 4th, 2017

CHARGES: 
(1) FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC UNKNOWN) 
(2) REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO A CHEMICAL TEST (FIRST OFFENSE) 
POLICE REPORT:  Our Client was stopped by the Rhode Island State Police for erratic driving and speeding.  At the conclusion of their on-scene investigation, they formed the opinion that our Client was under the influence of alcohol to a degree which rendered him incapable of safe operation and placed him under arrest for DUI and Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test.  Once we became involved with the case, we were able to gather significant mitigation evidence including the fact that our Client had never been in legal trouble before, held a clean CT driving history, and was in the process of obtaining his commercial freight pilots license.  This mitigation information, along with several legal issues which could have given the Prosecution a difficult time at trial, lead to a favorable plea bargain in which our Client avoided a DUI conviction.
RESULTS: 
(1) DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING resulting in one year filing with a six month loss of license (retro-active giving credit for chemical test refusal preliminary suspension), $250 contribution to the VCIF, and court costs on September 8th, 2017
(2) CHEMICAL TEST REFUSAL CHARGE DISMISSED

CHARGES: 
(1) FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF (BAC OVER 0.15)
(2) LEAVING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT WITH AN ATTENDED VEHICLE
POLICE REPORT:   Our Client was arrested by a local police department after a concerned citizen had called the Police to report an erratic operator.  Our Client's vehicle was located down a dirt path far from the roadway.  The Police arrested our Client and then required him to submit to standardized field sobriety testing which, in the opinion of the Officer, he failed.  He was transported to the Police Station where the Police requested that he submit to a breathalyzer and he consented.  His blood alcohol content, according to the breathalyzer, was over 0.15 at 0.17.  He was charged with DUI (BAC Over 0.15) and leaving the scene of an accident with an attended vehicle.  As the case proceeded through the Court system, we were able to identify significant procedural errors in the sequence of the Police investigation.  Those errors, if proven, may have been able to defeat the DUI charge.  We were able to convince the Prosecutor to amend the DUI charge down and our Client accepted a plea to a reckless driving charge that will leave him with no criminal record in one year, so long as he complies with the conditions of the agreement and gets in no further trouble.
RESULTS: 
(1) DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING resulting in one year filing with a 3 month ignition interlock sentence, a $500 charitable contribution, 20 hours of community service, a substance abuse evaluation and treatment, and court costs on August 18th, 2017
(2) LEAVING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT CHARGE DISMISSED 

CHARGE: FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC 0.10 to 0.15)
POLICE REPORT: Our young college student Client was stopped by a local police department for speeding and other traffic violations.  According to the arresting officer, the Client exhibited signs of impairment including an odor of alcohol coming from within the vehicle and slurred speech.  After she was arrested, she submitted to a chemical breath test at the Police Station which indicated that her blood alcohol content was slightly above 0.10.  After negotiations with the Prosecution, we were able to convince the prosecutor to reduce the charges from a misdemeanor criminal DUI charge to the civil violation driving while impaired (DWI).  This civil violation for DWI does not result in a criminal misdemeanor conviction and will be eligible to come off of our Client's record in a few months (instead of 5 years for a DUI).
RESULT: DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED and close to minimum sanctions imposed on the civil violation (45 day loss of license, $250 Fine, 30 Hours Community Service, DUI School) on June 13th, 2017

CHARGE: FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC 0.10 to 0.15)
POLICE REPORT: Our Client was stopped by a local police department for failure to move over for an emergency vehicle.  According to the arresting officer, the Client exhibited signs of impairment including an odor of alcohol coming from within the vehicle and slurred speech.  After he was arrested, he submitted to a chemical breath test at the Police Station which indicated that his blood alcohol content was slightly above 0.10.  After negotiations with the Prosecution, we were able to achieve a reduction in the charges from the criminal offense driving under the influence to the civil violation driving while impaired (DWI).  This civil violation for DWI does not result in a criminal misdemeanor conviction and will be eligible to come off of our Client's record in a few months (instead of 5 years for a DUI).
RESULT: DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED and minimum sanctions imposed on the civil violation (30 day loss of license, $250 Fine, 30 Hours Community Service, DUI School) on May 25th, 2017

CHARGES:
(1) FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC UNKNOWN)
(2) REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO A CHEMICAL TEST (FIRST OFFENSE) 
POLICE REPORT:   The Police pulled our Client over for failure to wear his seatbelt.  Upon talking to him, they allegedly made observations including an odor alcohol coming from his breath, slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes.  They requested that he submit to a battery of standardized field sobriety tests to which he consented.  In the opinion of the officers, he did not successfully complete the tests and was arrested for suspicion of DWI.  He was transported to the Police Station and they requested that he submit to a breath chemical test, to which he allegedly refused.  The Client was then charged with Driving Under the Influence and Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test.  During our independent investigation and review of the police paperwork and police investigation, we were able to identify significant defects in the protocol that called into question the veracity of the official police paperwork filed as part of the case.  We pointed these irregularities out to the prosecutor who had no choice but to agree with our assessment.  Based on the issues that we were able to raise at the pre-trial stage of the case, the prosecutor agreed to drop the chemical test refusal charge and reduce the DUI charge to one of reckless driving.
RESULT:
(1) DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING resulting in one year filing with a sixty day loss of license (retro-active giving credit for chemical test refusal preliminary suspension), completion of a substance abuse assessment, and court costs on April 10th, 2017
(2) CHEMICAL TEST REFUSAL CHARGE DISMISSED

CHARGE: FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC GREATER THAN 0.15)
POLICE REPORT: Our Client had been arrested after the Police pulled our Client over for swerving over the white center divided line on Route 95 South in the Town of Richmond.  The Police then became suspicious that the Client may have been operating under the influence and asked him to submit to standardized field sobriety tests.  In the officer's opinion, the Client failed those tests. The Client was then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.  At the Police Station, he submitted to chemical breath testing at the Police Station resulting in breath test readings of 0.170 and 0.167, over two times the legal limit.  Through extensive pre-trial discovery and negotiations with the prosecution, we were able to reach an agreement with the prosecutor that the charge would be reduced from DUI to reckless driving.  Our Client was sentenced to a one year filing (stay out of trouble, no arrests and automatic expungement after one year), a four month loss of license, a substance abuse assessment, fifty (50) hours of community service, and court costs.  He avoided a "conviction" for driving under the influence and, if he stays out of trouble and complies with the conditions of the Filing, his record will be clear in one year.
RESULT: DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING resulting in one year filing with a four month loss of license, completion of a substance abuse assessment, fifty hours of community service, and court costs on February 22nd, 2017

CHARGE: FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC GREATER THAN 0.15)
POLICE REPORT:  Our Client had been stopped by a local police department after a 911 caller had reported that she was driving erratically.  Once the Police interviewed her, they observed her to show signs of impairment and requested that she submit to standardized field sobriety tests.  After the field sobriety tests, the Police asked her to submit to a preliminary breath test.  She refused to submit to the preliminary breath test and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.  At the Police Station, she submitted to chemical breath testing that resulted in breath test readings of 0.18 and 0.19, nearly two and a half times the legal limit.  Through extensive pre-trial discovery we were able to uncover significant legal issues in the prosecutions case.  After litigation a defense motion to suppress evidence and on the day that the case was scheduled for trial, we were able to negotiate a reduction in the charge from driving under the influence to reckless driving and avoided potential criminal conviction for our client.
RESULT: DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING the case filed for one year (not a criminal conviction) with a 90 day loss of license, 9 months of driving with an ignition interlock device, 50 hours of public community service, completion of alcohol counseling, and court costs on January 20th, 2017

CHARGE: FIRST OFFENSE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (BAC GREATER THAN 0.15)
POLICE REPORT: The Client had been arrested after the Police responded to a report of a motor vehicle that had become lodged and stuck on the railroad tracks.  Upon their arrival on the scene, they observed a vehicle stuck 75 to 100 feet up the railroad tracks.  They spoke to the Client, who admitted to driving the vehicle and getting it stuck on the train tracks.  He told the Police that he had been at a bar with friends and had consumed alcohol.  After completing their investigation, the Client was arrested and charged with drunk driving.  At the Police Station, he submitted to chemical breath testing at the Police Station resulting in breath test readings of 0.24 and 0.25, over three times the legal limit.  Through extensive pre-trial discovery we were able to uncover significant legal issues in the prosecutions case.  Those issues included errors during the Police investigation that would have caused the prosecution problems admitting the Client's statements into evidence due to a lack of Miranda warnings and, as a result, problems proving that the Client operated the vehicle.
RESULT: DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING the case filed for one year (not a criminal conviction) with a 45 day loss of license, completion of alcohol counseling, and court costs on January 9th, 2017