Articles Posted in Field Sobriety Tests

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Peter Madge must have breathed a huge sigh of relief last week when a judge in Plymouth County Massachusetts dismissed a fifth offense DUI case against him on constitutional grounds. Last July a 911 caller reported seeing a car being operated erratically. When officers located the vehicle they found Madge sitting in a car that was partially in a driveway. There was an open can of beer in the console and the engine was running. Madge denied the erratic operation of the vehicle. Police reported that Madge smelled of alcohol, was unsteady on his feet and had red glassy eyes. Madge also failed the field sobriety tests. Once Madge was arrested a quantity of marijuana was found in his possession as well. Following a motion to suppress, a judge ruled that the police had no reason to stop Madge since they never witnessed his erratic operation of the vehicle. The case now stands dismissed.

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5th Offense DUI Charges Dismissed Against Marshfield Massachusetts Man

One of the best ways to get a case dismissed is by filing a motion to suppress an unlawful stop, search and seizure. Police are obligated to honor a suspect’s constitutional rights at all times. When they do not lawyers usually file motions to suppress. These motions challenge the legality of the police actions. When these motions are successful the evidence that the police have obtained through the unlawful search and seizure is suppressed, meaning that the district attorney cannot use it in court. Many times, without this evidence the prosecution cannot go forward with the prosecution of the case and the charges get dismissed. That is in fact what happened in this case. Madge was smart enough to hire a good lawyer who filed a motion to suppress. An intelligent judge who understands and readily applied the law allowed that motion. The prosecution now cannot proceed with its case.

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Last week Robert Meserve was held without bail after being charged with his fourth OUI offense and leaving the scene of an accident. The case is being prosecuted in the Taunton District Court. According to reports, last Tuesday around 11:00 p.m. police responded to a report of a car chase near the Taunton Green rotary. A 911 caller reported being in his car when it was struck by another car that took off. The caller followed the subject and updated police with his location. The suspect, Meserve was stopped. Officers detected an odor of alcohol on his breath, glassy and bloodshot eyes and unsteadiness on his feet. Meserve was given field sobriety tests which he failed. He refused the breathalyzer test.

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Massachusetts Man Picks Up 4th Offense DUI

Fourth offense OUI cases in Massachusetts have severe consequences. In addition to steep court costs, fines and fees there is a mandatory one year jail sentence that you must serve. Fourth offense DUI cases are felonies in Massachusetts. There is a potential five year state prison sentence associated with this charge. Meserve’s biggest problem stems from leaving the scene. This is one of those exacerbating factors that can lead to a judge imposing a sentence higher than the minimum mandatory. This action might also result in the district attorney prosecuting this case in the Superior Court. Had Meserve stayed and exchanged insurance information with the person he hit the police might not have been called and these charges might not have issued.

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Just the other night Andrew Caron was with his friend Carl Fuller. Fuller was driving his father’s car. Apparently Fuller had loaned Caron the keys this past Saturday night. Supposedly Caron was sober at the time. Caron returned with a couple of girls, picked up Fuller and continued to drive the car. Fuller became concerned about Caron’s state of sobriety and tried to get him to pull over. Caron pulled the car over at which time he and Fuller struggled over the keys. A Salem, Massachusetts police officer witnessed the event and investigated. He asked Caron if he had been drinking. Caron told the officer that he had not been drinking. Fuller told the cop otherwise. Caron and Fuller continued their struggle and Caron was arrested. He now stands charged with OUI in the Salem District Court. A district court set bail at one thousand dollars cash.

Drunk Driving Charges For Salem Massachusetts Man

There are a few things defense lawyers would like to know about this case. For instance, did Caron take any field sobriety tests? Did he take a breathalzyer test? How was he operating at the time of the stop and who if anybody witnessed the driving? What did Caron do from the time he went to pick up the girls until he got back to pick up Fuller? How much time laspsed? All of these questions needs to be answered before anyone can effectively evaluate Caron’s case. The job of criminal defense lawyers is to do just that. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a defendant’s case and recommend how to best defend or resolve the case.

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Jane Doe must have had a great lawyer. She is also very lucky. The forty two year old Massachusetts mother was given probation after pleading to a second offense DUI, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and child endangerment. The sentence was imposed in the Gloucester District Court. The punishment: a two year loss of license, a ninety day suspended sentence, two years probation, court costs and completion of the alcohol education program. The district attorney alleged that Featherstone was spotted driving with one blown tire that was down to its rim. When the officer stopped her she was given several field sobriety tests. She failed. Featherstone’s two sons were in the car at the time of the incident.

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Probation For Woman Convicted Of DUI Second

The law in Massachusetts regarding second offense OUI cases mandates that anyone convicted of the second offense be fined at least six hundred dollars and up to ten thousand dollars. There is also a mandatory house of correction sentence of sixty days, at least thirty of which must be served. There is an exception to this which most likely explains why Ms. Featherstone is not in a jail right now. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 24D states that if the first offense OUI conviction is ten years old or older the “24D” disposition can be imposed by a judge. It looks like the judge in this case availed himself of portions of this provision thereby allowing the defendant to avoid jail time. Other aspects of the sentence were more harsh than “24D” requires. Specifically, the two year loss of license. The ninety day suspended is required under the child endangerment law.

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A Salem, Massachusetts man was driving the wrong way down a one way street. That in and of itself should be enough to get anyone’s attention. However, the defendant, Natalio Rodrigues drew a little more attention to himself by honking his horn at a car coming right at him. Unfortunately for Rodrigues, the car he was beeping at was occupied by two Salem police officers. Reports indicate that Rodrigues drove directly at the officers without endeavoring to stop or pull over. The officers eventually were able to stop the suspect. Upon doing so they smelled alcohol. Rodrigues failed the field sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test. He stands charged with fourth offense OUI, driving negligently to endanger and driving down a one-way posted street.

Fourth Offense DUI Charges For Massachusetts Man In Salem

Rodrigues is in trouble. Fourth offense OUI convictions in Massachusetts carry a minimum mandatory one year house of correction sentence. There is also a ten year loss of license. There is also a maximum five year state prison sentence that can be imposed meaning that this is a felony. Many district attorneys in Massachusetts indict fourth offense DUI cases particularly where the facts are disconcerting. I would not be surprised to see Rodrigues case get indicted and prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court.

From the outside looking in this case looks difficult to defend. The events took place at 12:30 a.m. Driving the wrong way down a one way street with police officers as eyewitnesses suggests a problem from the outset. Failed field sobriety tests and the odor of alcohol complicate matters more. There is typically little sympathy felt by judges when sentencing fourth time offenders, particularly in circumstances such as these. Unless he goes to trial and wins, Rodrigues will be serving some jail time.

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Joan Clark just got out of jail a few days ago. Then, this past Wednesday she got into a motor vehicle accident. When the police arrived she looked disoriented and had bloodshot eyes. She claimed to have had nothing to drink but was taking three kinds of medications for back pain and for withdrawal. She also had four children between the ages of three and ten in her car. Clark failed field sobriety tests and was charged with DUI, DUI with personal injury and DUI child endangerment. She did take a breathalyzer test and consistent with her representations to the police the machine registered a .00.

Woman Facing Charges Of DUI Drugs, Child Endangerment

This incident occurred in Florida. Massachusetts has similar charges that can be brought against someone who commits these crimes in Massachusetts however. The most serious of these charges in Massachusetts would be the Child Endangerment OUI charge. That crime is codified by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 24V which states that anyone convicted of OUI with a child under the age of fourteen in the car shall be sentenced to a minimum ninety days in the house of correction. This crime is a misdemeanor but it is not subject to the “24D” disposition.

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Last Sunday night Marueen Fogwell was arrested in Massachusetts for OUI. A cell phone caller reported that Fogwell was driving erratically on Route 95. She failed some field sobriety tests and blew a .125 on a portable breathalyzer. She later blew a .10 and a .15 on a breathalyzer back at the police station. Pursuant to Massachusetts law Fogwell’s operating privileges were immediately revoked for thirty days.

Fogwell was arraigned early in the week in the Salem District Court. The judge learned that the police forgot to take her license when she was arrested and she was ordered to surrender it in court. She did and was reminded that she could not drive in Massachusetts until the Registry of Motor Vehicles restored her operating privileges. What the judge did not know was that Fogwell drove herself to court that day. However, when she left the courthouse a court officer saw her drive away and called the police. She was arrested, brought back into court and ordered held for sixty days in the house of correction or until her at least until her case is resolved.

Woman Arraigned On DUI Charge Caught Driving From Courthouse On Suspended License

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 23 makes it a crime for anyone who has a license suspended for OUI to operate a motor vehicle during the period of suspension. The sentence is sixty days in the house of correction if convicted of this crime. It is very difficult to defend someone accused of this crime. You would have to show either that the person was not driving the vehicle or that there was an affirmative defense to this crime such as necessity. Given the facts set out in this article it is unlikely that either of these defenses is available to this defendant.

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David Macklin has played for nine years in the National Football League, most recently for the Kansas City Chiefs. Earlier today Macklin was convicted of DUI in a Virginia Court. Macklin was pulled over on March 13, 2009 for windows that were tinted too dark. The investigating officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Macklin’s breath. Macklin then supposedly failed some field sobriety tests. He blew a .11 on the breathalyzer, .03 over the .08 legal limit. Like Massachusetts, a conviction for a first offense DUI in Virginia is a misdemeanor.

DUI Conviction For NFL Player

This case has an interesting issue. Macklin was pulled over for having windows with a tint darker than permissible by law – – or at least the police officer thought. However, the judge acquitted Macklin of the window tint charge. According to the article this was the sole reason for the initial stop. Thus, it appears that the officer might not have had probable cause to stop the car. As a result, there might have been a viable motion to suppress the stop of the car. Typically, when a stop is declared unconstitutional all fruits fo the stop become inadmissible at trial. In this case, the fruits are the field sobriety test and breathalyzer test results.

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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.

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Salem, Massachusetts police received a call concerning an accident in a yard of a residential neighborhood. When they responded they found Luis Francis, 26 of Lynn, Massachusetts in his truck stopped in the middle of the road. Concerned about the strong odor of alcohol coming from Francis the police asked him to perform some field sobriety tests. He agreed. This was a mistake. Francis failed. Then Francis was taken to the police station where he was asked to take a breathalyzer test. Francis made another mistake by agreeing to take this test. Once again he failed and registered a .27. This is almost three and one half times the legal limit. Further investigation revealed that Francis drove his car across a lawn and had crashed into a rock causing enough damage to his pickup truck that the airbags deployed. He was charged with OUI in the Salem District Court,.

Read Article: Lynn Man Charged With OUI After Crashing In Residential Neighborhood

In Massachusetts if you refuse to take field sobriety tests and/or a breathalyzer test, the fact that you refused cannot be used as evidence at your trial. In other words, a jury never hears that you refused to take these tests. In a case such as this one, the fact that the defendant failed the tests does become evidence that can be used against him at trial. Here, the evidence is extremely damaging, making this case very difficult for Francis to win.

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