Massachusetts DUI Lawyer Blog
Sandra Akers is the CEO of the Tewksbury Hospital. Last Friday she went to trial on an operating under the influence of alcohol case and lost. The two day trial was in the Peabody District Court before a jury that deliberated for two hours. The penalty; first offender disposition and a ninety day loss of license.
According to reports, Akers testified that she met up with friends around 10:30 p.m. on the day of the incident and had one drink at a bar in Gloucester. She and a friend left the bar to go back to her house in Rockport to have some pizza. When she got to her driveway the lights of a cruiser went on. Apparently a cab driver had reported his observation of erratic driving of Akers vehicle. Akers was put through some field sobriety tests and then arrested. Back at the police station she blew a .13 on the breathalyzer. Through an expert witness Akers defense attorney challenged the accuracy of the test. The value of the police officer’s observations was also challenged by the defense. It was argued that Akers had certain medical conditions that could adversely impact the accuracy of the field sobriety tests and the breathalyzer test.
Read Article: Tewksbury Massachusetts Woman Convicted Of DUI
Lowell Sun: Guilty Verdict On OUI Charges For Hospital CEO
Challenging the accuracy of breathalyzer tests is something that should be done more often by defendants fighting OUI charges. You have to keep in mind that a breathalyzer is just a machine and like all machines it is fallible. There are experts who understand how these machines work and just what is necessary to determine their accuracy. Unfortunately not many defendants want to absorb the cost of engaging an expert to assist in their defense. In that case it makes it much more difficult to defend cases where breathalyzer test results will be admitted as evidence at trial.
Akers took her shot and lost however the consequence of doing so was minimal. She had a great lawyer who no doubt did a fantastic job defending her. She will lose her license for forty five days more than had she pleaded guilty and been given the 24D disposition. That is the only consequence for taking this case to trial. It is also likely that she will be given a hardship license so the intrusion on her life will be tempered somewhat. This was a risk worth taking.
Drunk driving cases represent a significant portion of most criminal defense lawyers’ practices in Massachusetts. We have been defending OUI’s for over twenty years with great results. Contact us now if you have a DUI case at 617-263-6800 or you can get your message to us online.
Si usted habla español contacta a nuestro asistente de abogado Maria Rivera en 617-877-6270.