DUI and Driving Offenses

How D.C.’s DWI Statute Criminalizes Innocent Behavior

September 4, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

As a citizen of the D.C. metropolitan area, I am in favor of laws that protect us all from drunk drivers.  But the laws need to reasonable.  They need to punish the behavior we seek to deter. D.C.’s per se law on driving while intoxicated (DWI) is not only a mess; it is also of [...]

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The “Disappearing Sway” In A DWI/DUI Case

August 15, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

“Swaying while balancing” is one of four “clues” used by a police officer to detect intoxication during the One-Leg-Stand component of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST).  The police officer would require only one other clue to mark the suspect down as having failed this component and arrive at the conclusion that there is a [...]

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Probation for DWI: “Daddying While Intoxicated”

August 4, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

According to Legal Blog Watch, an Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to a year of probation after being convicted of Daddying While Intoxicated (DWI).  Steven Melendez had been charged with pushing his two infant children in a baby carriage while drunk. Is there such a crime as Daddying While Intoxicated?  No, Legal Blog Watch was [...]

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The Blood/Breath Partition Ratio in a DWI Case

August 4, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

The science behind the Intoxilyzer 5000EN and other breath test machines all sounds very impressive.  The problem is that the machines are based on certain assumptions about the person being tested.  If the assumptions are faulty, so are the results. One of the major assumptions used in breath testing is that there is a correlation [...]

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The Xeroxing of Arrest Reports in a DWI/DUI Case

July 30, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

With two DWI trials coming up, I will be focusing myself, as well as this blog, on the science and law related to this issue.  I am also consulting what I have found to be the best resource I have ever found on DWI/DUI defense:  Drunk Driving Defense by Lawrence Taylor and Steven Oberman.  Although [...]

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On Lindsay Lohan’s Legal Representation

July 10, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

Most people read about Lindsay Lohan’s recent troubles with the law and think about a young woman out of control.  I read the same reports and can’t help concluding that her recent sentence of 90 days incarceration for repeated probation violations was at least partially the fault of her high-priced lawyer. Admittedly, I have no [...]

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On DWI, Diversion, and Prosecutorial Discretion

July 7, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

[While on vacation, I am reposting some of my favorite entries from the past year.] Bad luck.  My client is middle-aged.  He has children and runs his own business.  He is a respected member of our community.   And he has never been arrested before. He is pulled over for speeding at two am on New [...]

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The Greatest DWI Video Of All Time

June 21, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

I had seen this video at a DWI/DUI training course in D.C. but was never able to find it again.  Many thanks to DC/Maryland criminal defense attorney Michael Bruckheim for letting me know where I could find it. I will link to Michael as soon as he gets his website up.

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D.C. Concludes Review of Faulty DWI Breath Test Cases

June 10, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

According to the Washington Post, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in D.C. has completed its review of 1,100 suspect DWI cases.  It has concluded that nearly 400 people were convicted of driving while intoxicated since September 2008 based on inaccurate results from the Intoxilyzer 5000EN breath test machine.  Over half of these people [...]

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DWI in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia

May 6, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

While Virginia is generally known for the stringency of its drinking-and-driving laws, the elements of driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Virginia themselves are very similar to Washington, D.C. and other jurisdictions.  The penalties are only a little bit more severe. The Virginia statute groups all drinking-and-driving offenses under the general category of DWI.  As in [...]

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