Aside from blood alcohol tests, the most important evidence of impairment that police, prosecutors, judges, and juries rely on in driving while intoxicated cases are the results of the field sobriety tests. Most of these tests are difficult for most anyone to pass, whether sober or impaired. The key to successful defense against possible false […]

Last week a flurry of attention was again brought on the accused killer of Hailey Owens, Craig Michael Wood.  This time, it was because his attorneys have now filed a Motion to Suppress his statements to police.  Motions to Suppress are frequently filed and are essentially asking the court not to consider certain pieces of […]

The tragic death of Hailey Owens that has an entire community in mourning took another turn last week when her parents filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against her accused killer, Craig Michael Wood.  The lawsuit prompts new questions about the case, as well as about the motivation behind filing the lawsuit.  Among those questions […]

All Driving While Intoxicated cases have two separate aspects: the administrative portion of the case and the criminal portion of the case.  As we all know, the breathalyzer result (BAC) can be an important part of DWI cases and can impact both the administrative and criminal aspects.  On the criminal side, state or city prosecutors […]

On January 21, 2014 the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments in the case Navarette v. California.  In that case an anonymous caller dialed 911 to inform the police that a person was driving recklessly and had almost ran the caller off the road.  The caller provided only a vague description of the vehicle. […]

“If I am pulled over and an officer asks me to take field sobriety tests (FST’s), I have to comply” False. Failure of FST’s is a strong piece of evidence for the government. Many people cannot pass these tests, even when having nothing to drink at all. When you take these tests you are, in […]