| Mar 13, 2015 | Case: 14-CT-504722 | Judge Swett |
| Facts: | The defendant crashed his car into a palm tree causing extensive damage to his car. When the police officer arrived, he noticed the defendant to have an odor of alcohol, slurred speech, slow and lethargic movements, and disarranged clothing. The defendant failed the field sobriety exercises. For example, on the walk and turn test, he failed to touch heel to toe, stepped off the line, lost his balance, and did not count out loud. On the one leg stand exercise, he swayed, put his foot down, and used his arms for balance. He was then arrested for DUI. | |
| Defense: | Parks & Braxton had pretrial talks with the State. We pointed out first that there was no video tape at the scene and the roadsides were vaguely described. Also, more importantly, back at the breath facility, after his arrest, the defendant was offered a breath test. The defendant stated he would provide a breath sample. However, the police could not locate someone qualified to administer the test. It was unclear what efforts if any were taken by the police to locate a breath machine operator. Thus, the State had no refusal to argue consciousness of guilt or breath test results to rely upon. | |
| Result: | The State dropped the DUI. | |