DUI and Driving Offenses

Complaints, Excuses, and Justifications after a Lost DWI Trial

February 3, 2012 Discovery

Before beginning my practice in Virginia, I went over to traffic court in Fairfax County to observe, and was struck by the large number of DWI cases that pled. One piece of blue paper after another was passed up to the judge, with the defendants lining up to accept responsibility for their offense. These guys [...]

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Confrontation Clause Be Damned: D.C. Continues to Use Surrogate Witnesses in DUI Cases

January 13, 2012 Criminal Procedure

Michael Bruckheim was scheduled to cross-examine Lucas Zarwell, the chief forensic toxicologist in D.C., and a group of DUI lawyers had gathered outside Room 116 yesterday afternoon shortly before 2:00 pm. Zarwell testified before city council last May that urine samples taken by police to test suspected drunk drivers are not reliable enough to accurately [...]

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Confronting the Silent Witness — the Breath Test Machine — in a DWI Case

December 28, 2011 DUI and Driving Offenses

The government vouches for him.  He himself doesn’t need to come to court, much less explain the basis for his conclusions.  His “testimony,” which is delivered through an interpreter, consists of nothing more than a couple of numbers and some pre-set generic language. There is no opportunity to cross-examine him. And yet the court can [...]

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Judge Ringell on Drunk Driving

December 11, 2011 DUI and Driving Offenses

Every morning in Room 115 of the D.C. Superior Court building, Magistrate Judge Richard H. Ringell delivers an impassioned speech about the evils of drunk driving before proceeding with that morning’s arraignments. Although he rarely changes a word, he speaks without the benefit of notes and as if he is delivering the speech for the very [...]

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On the Defendant’s Acceptance of Responsibility at Sentencing

April 15, 2011 Criminal Procedure

Earlier this week, I caught the tail-end of a DWI trial in which Michael Bruckheim was representing the defendant. Bruckheim had attended portions of my last DWI trial in D.C., and I decided to repay the favor. I wanted to see him cross examine the same police officer who had testified in my case. And, [...]

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DWI Defense Is Not For Beginners

April 14, 2011 DUI and Driving Offenses

You would think that Jeff Gamso, as a criminal defense lawyer focusing on death penalty cases, might look down his nose at lawyers handling drunk driving cases.  After all, the difference in stakes is enormous. You would be wrong.  In the same blog entry in which he vents about listservs, Gamso criticizes the notion, often [...]

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The “Oopsie” Phenomenon and Other Problems with Urine Tests

February 17, 2011 DUI and Driving Offenses

With the use of breath test machines temporarily suspended in D.C. because of calibration and accuracy problems, people arrested under suspicion of drinking and driving are currently being administered urine tests. Generally considered even less reliable than the breath test as a surrogate measure for blood alcohol concentration, urine tests present at least four different [...]

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A Police Officer In Your Rearview Mirror

February 6, 2011 Defenses to Criminal Charges

Your client is driving along late one night on a deserted highway in Virginia. He is not speeding or swerving. He isn’t driving on the shoulder of the road or into opposing lanes of traffic. He is obeying traffic signals. He has a valid inspection sticker and there is nothing wrong with his car. While [...]

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On Whistleblowers and the D.C. Breath Test Scandal

December 17, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

I have always been skeptical of whistleblowers. Maybe it is because I have always wanted to believe the best when it comes to our government.  Maybe it is because, having worked for the federal government during my previous career, I know that the people who work for the government are for the most part capable [...]

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The D.C. DWI Scandal: The Latest Developments

December 15, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

On November 23 and December 2, 2010, I reported on the latest developments to come out with respect to the complete bungling of DWI breath test results in the District over the last ten years. Bryan Brown and Thomas Key have been leading efforts by lawyers handling DWI cases in D.C. to find out more [...]

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