Interesting DUI cases, I have handled

            DUI CLIENT VIGNETTES

        The case of the talented gymnast

I had a client named Angel who just broke up with her boyfriend and was very upset. She had a few drinks and was driving home .She saw van that had been pulled over by the police. She believed it was a friend of hers. She walked over to the officer with a wad of cash (Of course she was from Las Vegas) to bail him out. The officer asked the owner of the van “Do you know this person?” and he said NO,. At this time, the officer wanted Angel to do some Roadside tests. She insisted that she was not drunk. The cop wanted her to walk the line. (Angel was a gymnast).

After the cop became more insistent, she walked the line on her hands. The officer was not impressed and was extremely upset that she demonstrated what he characterized as insubordinate behavior. HE unceremoniously threw her in the front seat of his cop car. She became even more upset and kicked out the window of the cop car.(I told you she was a gymnast) apparently she has really strong legs. The cop was not impressed. He arrested her for Dui and for malicious injury to property.

    The District attorney was not happy and wanted to throw the book at my client. But I pointed out: 1.The cop never saw her drive. 2 Since she walked on her hands, she obviously passed that test.  So the officer did not have probable cause to arrest her. When everything was said and done, she pled guilty to a traffic violation, paid for the window and everything else was dismissed. The important things to note are: 1 an essential element is driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle. The officer could not testify to those facts. 2. He only gave her 1 roadside test. Arguably she didn’t follow directions properly, but if she was able to walk the line on her hands, she couldn’t have been under the influence of alcohol. Although the facts seemed dismal at the outset, Good lawyering (and great balance) saved her.

The case of the vanishing License revocation.

Most states will revoke your license for increasing lengthy periods of time for each successive license revocation or DUI conviction. In Nevada , within 7 years it is 90 days for the first time,1 year for the 2^nd time and 3 years for the 2^nd time. I represented a client named Ken who was facing a 2nd time dui case (Minimum penalty 10 days in jail and a 1 year license revocation)

First ,I was able to have his first conviction knocked out because there was a problem in his paperwork form his first conviction (I did NOT represent him on that one). Then I was able to have his present case reduced to reckless driving, even though he backed into another vehicle. However the DMV  was aware of his first conviction, he had already served his 90 day license restriction and wanted to revoke his license for 1 year because this was his 2^nd revocation within a 7 year period. Although it doesn’t sound fair, according to Nevada law, they formerly were able to do this. But now they can’t

    I contested this procedure, presented our case and was able to keep out paperwork that would have won the case for the DMV As a result of my efforts, Ken did not have his license suspended for 1 year and he since he had already served his suspension. He was able to drive immediately.

Atkins Diet.    

Hi Protein diets are really popular these days. Many people have reported great success. I had a client that had 1 glass of wine.. I’ll call him Ralph. He was a big guy about 250 lbs. He was stopped for a traffic infraction and the cop smelled alcohol. He had him do a preliminary breath test, PBT. (something I always advise against. You should do ANY road side tests).The reading was over 4 times the legal limit. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. He took a breath test at the police station and it registered a .35 (Over 4 times the legal limit of a .08)

    He swore that he only had 1 glass of wine. How could that be?

When people are on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, the ketones you expel from your breath are read by the breath machine as isopropyl alcohol. OF course the DA didn’t believe us. We hired an expert who explained to the court why the breath machine would give an artificially high reading and he agreed. The case was dismissed.

I always tell my clients don’t talk to anyone about what happened except your lawyer. I know there is a spousal privilege. That protects confidential communications between spouses, but it actually destroys the attorney client privilege and the spouse may talk to someone. I had a very high profile felony case. The fiancé of my client insisted on staying for our discussion. Later an issue arose regarding when he turned himself in. Of course the DA subpoenaed the fiancé and her story (which was incorrect) contradicted my client and showed him in an unfavorable light. Since that time I NEVER talk to clients or potential clients with other people in the room. It’s safer for everyone.

I represented a client for DUI with death or substantial bodily harm. The penalty is 2 to 20 years in the Nevada State Prison with NO PROBATION. This means if you are convicted you MUST go to jail. There was no question that my client drove the care that killed the pedestrian.

    According to Nevada law, in order to be convicted of this felony, you must be the “legal cause” of the death. In this case, there was an issue whether the pedestrian was in the crosswalk or not. If he wasn’t, then the prosecutor may not have been able to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. We ended up making a deal where my client did NOT plead to the felony dui and we agreed he would get probation. My client was ecstatic not to mention his son and his wife.

I had another Dui with death case. My client was driving making a turn within the speed limit. His passenger did not have his seat belt buckled. He told the passenger to buckle up. They were in a 2 seater Mercedes which is a small car. When the passenger attempted to buckle his seat belt, his hand hit the steering wheel and the car spun out and flipped over. My client was banged up and had a concussion. Put the passenger was thrown from the car and he died. My client was over the legal limit, but, I hired an accident reconstructionist who determined the passenger has caused theaccident so my client ped to a reckless driving charge and he did NOT go to prison