Friday, July 19, 2019

Two More Amendments for Attorney Murray's Clients

Case # 1: .13 BAC First Offense Amended to Reckless Driving

CW was traveling on a motorcycle when his brother, who was on a bike in front of him, wiped out. CW called for an ambulance and despite his good intentions, ended up being arrested for OWI after allegedly failing the field sobriety tests. The allegations were six of six clues on the HGN test, three of eight on the Walk-And-Turn, and three of four on the One Leg Stand test. A preliminary breath test resulted in a .147 result and an evidentiary chemical test of CW's breath, the report was. 13. Attorney Murray filed various motions challenging the evidence in CW's case and the prosecutor ultimately agreed to a resolution whereby the OWI would be amended to a Reckless Driving citation.

Case # 1: OWI-Third Offense with .337 BAC Amended to Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle

KK was found asleep in the driver seat of her vehicle, in a ditch, with a half-consumed bottle of vodka next to her. The recordings received from law enforcement were awful. However, because the State had a problem proving whether KK drank before or after going into the ditch (they also did not know when the vehicle had last been operated on a roadway), they agreed to an amended charge. While KK agreed to be placed on probation as part of this agreement and id have to serve some jail time, the jail time imposed was approximately 160 days less than the sentencing guidelines called for on the OWI, KK never lost her license and she will not have to deal with the ignition interlock device requirement at all. Moreover, she is not subject to the .02 lifetime restriction that accompanies OWI-Third Offense convictions.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Attorney Murray Obtains Not Guilty Verdict on OWI-First Offense and Complete Dismissal of Companion Refusal Charge

According to the deputy, KW made an abrupt turn onto a lesser traveled county highway and was traveling at a high rate of speed. He then went onto the gravel shoulder as he turned left onto another county highway with the deputy behind him. He then allegedly drove down the center of the roadway, then weaved within his lane and touched the center line. Upon approaching the vehicle, KW admitted that he drank a few beers. When pressed on what that meant, he said "enough" and then admitted to six, seven or eight beers. He then failed all three field sobriety tests and registered a .196 on the preliminary breath test. After being arrested for OWI, he then refused a blood test and was also charged with Unlawfully Refusing a Chemical Test. On top of this, the Deputy also issued Failure to Maintain Control of Vehicle and Operating Left of Center citations.

Attorney Murray filed several pre-trial motions and the prosecutor ultimately agreed to dismiss the refusal charge because the deputy failed to properly read the Informing the Accused form. Immediately before trial, the prosecutor also dismissed the Failure to Maintain Control of Vehicle citation as they did not believe it could be proven. While the facts of this case seem very bad, Attorney Murray was able to create a picture where the deputy was following KW for no reason, nit picking his observations, not administering the field sobriety test correctly and that sober individuals would have difficulty with the tests. KW had a lot of difficulty with the field sobriety tests. By law, the fat that the preliminary breath test was administered is not admissible at trial. Because the officer failed to comply with the implied consent law, the fact that KW refused was also inadmissible.

It took the jury 45 minutes to find KW Not Guilty of the OWI with no dissenting juror. While KW was convicted of the Operating Left of Center citation, he could not be happier and neither could we.