Car Accident That Resulted In DWI & School Zone DWI Gets Dismissed

DWI Charges

The whole incident happened after a marked police car actually witnessed our client crash into 2 parked cars while driving her Honda civic on Kennedy Boulevard. The police officer immediately radioed in the accident and called an ambulance to the scene to assess the condition of the occupants. After a short investigation the police were able to determine that our client (the driver) and the 2 passengers did not have any visible signs of injury and all refused medical attention. This turned out to be great news because any reported injuries would have most likely resulted in upgraded charges of Assault by Auto for drunk driving that results in an accident with injuries.

The police then began to investigate the cause for the accident and soon became suspicious that our client had either been drinking or taking drugs. Based on their suspicions the police began conduct several standardized field sobriety tests including the HGN, Walk &Turn, and One Leg Stand. Based on the results of these tests, our client was arrested for DWI. In the report, the police noted that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy and she was swaying, had to grasp for support and had her feet wide apart for balance. Once back at the station our client agreed to take the Alcotest breathalyzer which resulted in a reading of 0.08% which is right above the legal limit. To make matters worse, she was also charged with a DWI in School Zone based on the area where the accident took place, which could have resulted in a 1 – 2 year loss of her license even as a first time offender.

Soon after the incident we were contacted by our client and her family to help her with this matter. Our Union City DWI lawyers immediately went to work by entering a “Not Guilty” plea against the charges she faced and requested all the evidence the prosecutor planned to use against her. After a thorough review of the evidence it became clear that there may be a way to challenge the accuracy of her breathalyzer reading in order to show that it very well could have been a 0.07% in actuality which would get it down below the legal limit. In order to bolster the argument we sent the evidence to an independent expert to review. The expert agreed and wrote up a report that detailed the issue, which in turn, was handed over to the state prosecutor. Based on the arguments that were detailed above, the prosecutor conceded that there was no way to prove his case against our client beyond a reasonable doubt if it were to proceed to trial. In turn, the court found our client not guilty of the DWI and DUI in a school zone. However, based on the accident our client did plead guilty to careless driving which carried only a 30 day loss of her license. If you or your loved one has been charged with a DWI or school zone offense then feel free to give our office a call to discuss the details of your case to learn how we may be able to help you just like the true story above.

State v. C.P. decided on November 20, 2017