Friday, October 31, 2014

October 20, 2014: OWI-2nd/PAC-2nd Reduced to Non-Traffic Misdemeanor; Commercial Driving Client Avoids Lifetime CDL Disqualification

The stakes couldn't have been much higher for ST in this case. As a CDL holder, ST was facing lifetime disqualification of his commercial driving privileges if he got convicted of the original second offense drunk driving charges he was facing. He had no choice but to do everything in his power to avoid this devastating consequence. He knew he would have to find a lawyer up to the challenge of saving his future. During his research, ST was told of someone who had just beaten a sixth offense OWI charge on appeal, a very rare occurrence. ST was determined to find out who the defense lawyer was on that case. After doing some digging, ST learned the lawyer was Dennis Melowski. ST immediately hired him. It was the best decision he could have made. After going through ST's case with a fine-toothed comb, Dennis found several legal issues that had significant promise. Dennis brought these issues to the court's attention and a hearing was scheduled. By the close of round one of the hearings, Dennis had made significant headway into undermining the State's case against ST. Shortly before round two of the hearings, the prosecutor called Dennis and made a fantastic settlement offer. Under the terms of the deal, the original drunk driving charges would be dropped. Instead, ST would enter a no contest plea to a newly issued charge of Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle, which is a non-alcohol-related, non-traffic misdemeanor offense that would not even show up on ST's driver record. ST agreed to be placed on probation for one year, but served no jail time; never lost his license for even a single day; avoided the dreadful ignition interlock device; and, most importantly, avoided a drunk driving conviction altogether. And his CDL privileges remain fully intact. Another very real result.