A man was arrested in Alaska for operating under the influence Aug. 3, 2012 as he floated down a river on an inflatable raft. In Alaska, as in Massachusetts, the legal limit is 0.08. A wildlife trooper arrested William Modene, 32, after authorities received reports of a “heavily intoxicated” man…
Recently, in Souza v. Registry of Motor Vehicles, the highest court in Massachusetts held that as used in the Massachusetts operating under the influence (OUI/DUI/DWI) statute, the word “convicted” refers only to guilty findings and that a “continuance without a finding” (CWOF) is no longer considered a first offense for…
On June 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court decided Bullcoming v. New Mexico, a case which shores up our constitutional safeguards and which will have important implications in Massachusetts OUI/DUI/DWI/drunk driving cases. The facts, which were summarized in a previous blog post, were as follows: In 2005, Donald Bullcoming…
A recent article in the Boston Globe got my attention as a Massachusetts OUI criminal defense attorney. Massachusetts legislators are reportedly considering several changes to Melanie’s Law, the 2005 law that was intended to toughen penalties for drunk drivers. Legislators have proposed several ways to toughen those penalties even further,…
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…
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…
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…
A series of articles and videos in the Quincy Patriot-Ledger about a rise in the number of women being convicted of drunk driving caught my eye recently. The videos describe the struggles of two women to put their lives back together after their drunk driving arrests. As a Massachusetts drunk…
A new Massachusetts law went into effect on September 30, forbidding texting while driving for all drivers, and both texting and cell phone use for drivers under 18. As a Massachusetts OUI defense attorney, I’ve noticed that some news reports have called the penalties for texting “harsh.” This is interesting,…
Many of the cases of intoxicated driving that I’ve written about include good examples of what not to do and what not to say if you’re pulled over for drunk driving. For example, telling the officer you’ve been drinking and popping pills all day is not the best idea. As…