Client was
observed (after leaving a bar) operating in the wrong direction
on a clearly posted one-way street. The arresting officer turned
on his blue lights and observed Client drive into the curb while
stopping.
Client had bloodshot and glassy eyes, dexterity problems in producing
his documents, smelled heavily of alcohol, had slurred speech
and difficulty exiting his vehicle. Client swayed while walking
and standing and failed miserably in his attempts to do field
sobriety tests. At one point during the tests, Client placed his
hands behind his back, turned to the arresting officer and said
"Go ahead and arrest me, you’ll be doing me a favor
by getting me off the road tonight." The officer obliged
and Client subsequently blew a .21% BAC on the Intoxilyzer 5000.
The jurors deadlocked (i.e. could not agree on a verdict), a mistrial
was declared and the OUI charge was later dismissed by the District
Attorney.
The State called two expert witnesses as well as the arresting
officer to testify. The defense called no witnesses. Through cross-examination
of the State’s experts, the defense showed that the police
failed to follow proper protocol for performing calibration checks
and otherwise maintaining the Intoxilyzer 5000. The defense further
created reasonable doubt regarding the officer’s testimony
based upon his admission to destroying his field notes and subsequently
preparing a typed report after seeing the Intoxilyzer results.
