DWI CASE EXAMPLE: SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

The New Hampshire DWI laws and penalties are tough.  Here is an example of a recent case victory-a DISMISSAL after Attorney Stevens’ motion to suppress (throw out) all the evidence was GRANTED in a New Hampshire DWI case:

Driver charged with Aggravated DWI after her blood alcohol test comes back at a .23

Aggravated DWI Case Example

DWI CASE EXAMPLE-BASIC FACTS: A police officer was dispatched to the scene of a single car accident.  The car had gone off the road and collided with a tree.  The damage to the car was significant, and the officer found blood inside the driver’s area.  There was no one in the car when the officer arrived.  While the officer was running the plate to see who the car belonged to, another motorist drove up and told the officer that she had been drinking at a local bar with the owner of the car that had been in the accident.  The second motorist told the officer where the owner of the car lived, which was about a mile away.

The officer then proceeded to that residence, armed with the vehicle owner’s name and address.  When the officer got to the residence, a young woman was inside her home being treated for a cut on her head by her mother.  The officer testified that he knocked on the door and that it “opened when he knocked on it” (as so many doors do when police knock on them while investigating a crime).  The officer claimed that he asked permission to enter the home; both women said that the officer just walked in and said “police”.  The officer immediately began interrogating the young woman about drinking and driving.  He then ordered an ambulance.

The young woman tried to stay at her home and refuse medical treatment, but the officer told her that she had to go to the hospital for medical treatment.  After expressing her displeasure with riding in an ambulance and repeated demands to be left alone in her home, the officer ordered her to go into the ambulance or she would be arrested and taken into protective custody (with all the attendant top-flight medical care that protective custody provides no doubt).

Once at the hospital, the officer read the woman an “implied consent form”, also known as an “administrative license suspension rights form”, requesting that the woman submit to a blood test for alcohol.  The woman eventually succumbed to the demands, her arm was punctured by a needle and blood was drawn.  Weeks later she received a blood result of .23.  Because she elected to cooperate with the officer’s request for blood, her charges were enhanced to “aggravated DWI’, because her alleged blood alcohol concentration was higher than a .16.  Because she cooperated with the police regarding the blood draw, she exposed herself to a mandatory jail sentence if convicted.  It is important to note that if you cooperate with the police and give breath or blood, that result can be used to send you to jail for up to a year, even if you have no criminal record.

This citizen hired Attorney Mark Stevens to represent her at trial.

READ ON TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED…

DWI CHARGE DISMISSED AFTER MOTION GRANTED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2008