Massachusetts DUI Lawyer Blog

A recent article about a drunk driver found in Brookline caught my eye as a Massachusetts OUI criminal defense attorney. Wicked Local Brookline reported Nov. 15 about the arrest of Jason Andrew Jeffrey, 32, for drunk driving. Jeffrey was arrested after he narrowly avoided crashing into a Brookline police officer at 3:15 a.m. on the morning of Nov. 14. The officer was passing the Reservoir MTBA station, when he heard a woman screaming and saw another vehicle speeding directly toward his police cruiser at high speed. The officer said he feared for his life as he braked hard and steered to the right to avoid the car. The other driver swerved to the left, narrowly avoiding the police cruiser.

When the car pulled into the MTBA station's parking lot, the officer pulled in front of the driveway to prevent the driver from leaving. He discovered Jeffrey in the driver's seat and an unidentified woman in the passenger seat. The woman, who was the owner of the car, apologized profusely while Jeffrey said nothing. Before being asked, Jeffrey declined to take field sobriety tests. He later changed his mind and attempted to take the tests, but the officer said he could not complete them. He also did not have a driver's license. He was arrested on multiple counts including OUI, driving without a license, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving to endanger. He also had an outstanding warrant for an offense the article did not specify.

Read article: Alleged drunk driver causes Brookline officer 'to fear for my life'

This article describes behavior that is unlikely to go over well in public, and Jeffrey would be well advised to hire a Massachusetts drunk driving criminal defense lawyer. But as an OUI attorney myself, I'd like to point out that Jeffrey was actually within his rights to decline the field sobriety tests, and in fact may have benefited from not attempting them. As I've written here many times before, field sobriety tests are not reliable indicators of whether a driver is actually intoxicated. There are just too many ways for health problems, weather conditions, road maintenance and many other factors to interfere. In fact, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that one of the tests -- the horizontal gaze nystagmus, in which drivers follow a finger or pen with their eyes -- is not admissible as evidence unless it's administered by a qualified person. This more or less eliminates it as evidence for an OUI. The federal Department of Transportation has also handed down reliability guidelines for field sobriety tests, which can be used in court to discredit tests that don't meet standards.

Perhaps even more importantly for Massachusetts drivers, the state Supreme Court has also ruled that prosecutors can't use your refusal to perform field sobriety tests as evidence against you. This means there are no direct consequences for declining field sobriety tests, as Jeffrey originally did. Now, this is not to say that declining is always the right choice. For one thing, drivers who don't want to perform field sobriety tests should say so more politely than Jeffrey did, because making a police officer angry is unlikely to benefit them. And if you believe you can perform the tests without a problem, you should consider performing them. After all, performing the tests well may convince the officer that you're not drunk, allowing you to end the traffic stop and move on with your day. But if you don't feel that you're likely to pass them, for any reason, you should know that you have the option of declining without having it brought up in court later.

Continue reading "Chestnut Hill Man Arrested for OUI After Narrowly Avoiding Crash With Police Officer" »

If you listen to politicians and the media, you might think drunk drivers are the most serious menace on the roads today. However, a new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals another under-recognized danger: drowsy drivers. One in six fatal crashes involves a driver who falls asleep at the wheel. Part of my job as a Massachusetts OUI defense attorney is to protect my clients' civil rights. Given the hysteria around drunk driving -- and the lack of hysteria around the apparently far more common sleepy driving accidents -- I am concerned about the disparity in how these threats on the road are treated under the law.

For the family and friends of people killed in car crashes, the loss of their loved one matters much more than the specific reason the driver of the other car was impaired. There may be many different ways to be distracted or impaired while driving, but all of them have the same dangers -- injuries, deaths, and property damage. Jacquelyn Polito, a registered sleep clinician at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, said drowsy drivers may pose the same danger as drunk drivers with a blood alcohol count of 0.10 percent, which is actually above the legal threshold of 0.08. As I discussed recently, scientific research shows that texting drivers are even more dangerous than drivers who are drunk or high. And this summer, a study by the AAA found that pets are the third most dangerous distraction for drivers, after talking on the phone and texting.

Why is it that, of the many kinds of impairments or distractions that can cause accidents on the roads, the only kind that is treated severely under the law is drunk driving? Many of the other kinds of distractions and impairments are not even taken seriously by the law. For example, the new Massachusetts distracted driving law was passed without the ban on driving with pets in the driver's lap that it originally included, and its penalties for texting while driving are far less severe than those for driving under the influence of alcohol. Instead of treating all dangerous driving equally, the law singles out drunk drivers for special penalties. Perhaps the real issue is social disapproval of drinking, not the level of danger posed by driving under the influence.

As irrational as it may be, it's unlikely that OUI penalties are going to be relaxed anytime soon. That's why it's important for anyone charged with drunk driving to immediately contact a Massachusetts drunk driving defense attorney. There's too much at stake in an OUI conviction to leave your fate up to chance. Even with a first OUI conviction, the penalties can include hundreds of dollars in fines and jail or probation for up to 2.5 years. Compare that with the simple $100 fine that drivers over 18 would face if caught texting.

Continue reading "Study Shows Sleepy Driving May Actually Pose More Danger Than Drunk Driving" »

A Beverly woman is in legal trouble after a teenager claimed the woman hosted a party at which she served teenagers a large amount of alcoholic drinks. That would put the woman in violation of the Massachusetts social host law, which dictates criminal penalties for adults who knowingly serve alcohol to minors. As a Massachusetts OUI defense lawyer, I have been very interested in following how our state's social host law has been applied, because it can easily be used to prosecute innocent people. Anyone charged with violating this law should contact a Massachusetts intoxicated driving defense attorney immediately in order to preserve their rights and improve their chances of getting the charges dismissed or a not-guilty verdict.

In the Beverly case, police received complaints after midnight on Oct. 31 about a loud party at the apartment of Tiffany Clark, 35, at 903 Manor Road. Police entered the apartment, found several teenagers inside and contacted their parents. Police also reportedly found empty beer cans and 75-100 empty cups that they said were probably used for Jell-O shots. They observed Clark to be unsteady on her feet, slurring her speech and responding "somewhat incoherently" to officers' questions. Then she fell down, and police called for an ambulance to take her to Beverly Hospital. Clark's children stayed with a friend's parents, and police notified the Department of Children and Families.

Police also received a report that a 16-year-old girl was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning after being present at the party at Clark's apartment. The girl told police that Clark refused to take her to a hospital or call 911, and that someone else called the girl's relatives for help. When police arrived at Clark's apartment, they informed her about the girl's hospitalization, and noted in their report that she "seemed not to care." Clark is criminally charged with procuring alcohol for minors and with allowing minors to consume alcohol at her home, in violation of the social host law. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to a year in prison, a $2,500 fine, or both.

Read articles: Beverly mom summonsed for teen booze bash

The articles in the media about this situation portray Clark as being obviously guilty of getting her child's teenage friends drunk. As a Massachusetts intoxicated driving attorney, I know that the law has to adhere to a higher standard than the media do, and that's why it's important for someone in Clark's position to contact an attorney right away. It may be tempting to plead guilty after a trial in the "court" of public opinion, but it takes an experienced attorney to decide whether the charges are supported by the actual evidence. From what we have seen in the news reports, the police did not find any teenagers who were drunk or drinking alcohol at Clark's apartment, and she did not admit to having furnished them with alcohol. Clark herself may have been drunk, but it's not illegal for a 35-year-old woman to be drunk in her own home. At worst, the evidence presented here may suggest poor parenting, but not illegal furnishing of alcohol to minors.

Continue reading "Beverly Woman Faces Criminal Prosecution After Allegedly Giving Alcohol to Teens" »

A Beverly man has been charged with OUI and child endangerment and faces a dangerousness hearing after crashing his minivan with his two-year-old son inside. This article caught my eye, Massachusetts drunk driving defense attorney, because cases involving harm to children frequently attract significant media attention. The sensationalism with which cases like this are covered in the media often hurts a person's chances of being treated fairly in court, which is why I'm glad this man hired a Massachusetts OUI defense lawyer who should make sure that his rights are respected.

According to New England Cable News, Dana Kessel, 40, was in charge of his three sons while his wife was out of town at a wedding. According to police, Kessel had drunk several beers and liquor at a bar before picking up his youngest son, age 2, from a birthday party. With the child in the car, he lost control of his minivan and slammed into a telephone pole on McPherson Drive. Police were investigating whether the child had been riding in a carseat, or using it correctly, since he was thrown from the backseat onto the dashboard by the crash. Witnesses told NECN that the boy was bleeding and hysterical, and that one witness tried to console the child. A police officer said on camera that the boy required stitches and suffered bruising to his internal organs, and that Kessel did not appear to care that the child was upset. Police also said that Kessel's blood alcohol count was over twice the legal limit and he had bloodshot, glassy eyes; was unsteady on his feet; and slurred his speech. Kessel pleaded not guilty to third-offense OUI and child endangerment in Salem District Court and agreed to enter a 30-day alcohol treatment program. He will return to court for a pretrial dangerousness hearing on Nov. 16.

Read article: Father charged with OUI, child endangerment

As a Massachusetts intoxicated driving defense attorney, I know how important it is to ensure that the rights of each person charged with drunk driving are respected according to the law. That includes people accused of high-profile or widely reviled OUIs. No one wants to see children hurt in preventable drunk-driving accidents, least of all the children's own parents. But I get concerned when police officers go on camera for a TV news report and start offering their own interpretations instead of the facts. In the NECN story, for example, the police officer commented that Kessel appeared to be totally unconcerned about his son, who was hysterical and bleeding. Those comments are an interpretation of Kessel's behavior; for all the officer knew, he might have been in shock from the car wreck himself. Comments like this are inflammatory, and they suggest that the police have already decided that he is guilty, rather than extending to him the fair treatment that he is entitled to under the law.

Continue reading "'DUI Dad' Must Guard His Right to Due Process After Media Sensationalism" »

Prospective employers, dates, coworkers and friends can find information about most of us online. Unfortunately, that can include news reports about our misdeeds and mistakes. A number of candidates who ran for office this year have learned this the hard way, from Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's claims to have been involved with witchcraft to Massachusetts Republican Jon Golnik's OUI arrest in 2001. As a Massachusetts OUI defense lawyer, I think it's important for everyone to realize that any admissions they make if they ever face a drunk driving charge can follow them for a long time. That's why it's important to know your rights, including what you are and are not required to say or do when you interact with the police.

Jon Golnik was arrested for OUI drugs and alcohol in 2001, and he continued to have to answer questions about it nearly a decade later, since he ran for the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Golnik, now 45, had attended an AC/DC concert at the FleetCenter in Boston, and police found him shirtless and slurring his speech. The police report from this incident says Golnik told the police he had four beers, and admitted that this impeded his ability to drive safely. He was also driving on a flat tire. He has denied smoking marijuana, which he was charged with, but he admitted to having drunk alcohol before driving. While the marijuana charge was dismissed, his license was suspended.

Read article: Step carefully, dirty laundry defining candidates

As I've written here before, if the police pull you over on suspicion of drunk driving, they already think you're guilty. During the traffic stop, they are looking for evidence to include in the police report, which can be used against you at trial. That's why it's important to politely refuse to answer police officers' questions about whether you have been drinking -- and never, ever volunteer that kind of information. Instead, consider saying that you need to speak to your attorney, and then actually speak to an attorney as soon as you can. If you can keep incriminating statements like the one Golnik made out of the police report and out of public record, your attorney stands a much better chance of helping you get the charges dismissed or a not-guilty verdict.

As a Massachusetts drunk driving defense attorney, I can tell you that avoiding an OUI conviction is important for a lot of reasons. Obviously, you don't have to worry about jail time or the steep fines and fees that go with a conviction, but you also don't have to worry about your auto insurance rates skyrocketing or having to disclose a conviction on job applications. Unfortunately, since most police reports are public records, information about an OUI arrest could still become public even if the charges are dismissed or if you're found not guilty. But if you have avoided incriminating yourself by admitting to drinking and driving, you can much more persuasively explain your drunk driving arrest to anyone who asks as a simple mistake by the police.

Continue reading "Statements to Police During an OUI Incident Can Follow You for Years" »