October 3, 2011: OWI-1st Reduced to Inattentive Driving

In the case of City of C. v. A.M., the client was originally charged with Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated and Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Prohibited Alcohol Concentration. As a lineman for a power company and CDL holder, the client needed to avoid any type of alcohol related driving conviction to keep his job. Based upon a very successful cross-examination of the arresting officer at the client's administrative suspension hearing, Dennis Melowski was able to establish that the officer could not have possibly conducted a proper 20 minute observation period of the client prior to the breath test, a prerequisite under Wisconsin law. This deficiency, among many other incosistencies Dennis was able to expose in the officer's version of events, led the prosecutor to agree to drastically reduce the original drunk driving charges--all the way down to the minor traffic offense of Inattentive Driving. Other than paying a fine, the client suffered no consequences related to his arrest and never lost his license for even a single day. His job, and career, were saved.