Evidence Thrown Out, 0.16 OWI Case Dismissed

In this case, our client was stopped for failing to properly signal a lane charge.  The Dane County Sheriff's Department deputy reported that upon contact he observed our client to have slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and the client admitted to consuming alcohol for several hours.  The deputy asked our client to submit to field sobriety tests, and the client declined to perform them.  He was arrested on a criminal OWI charge and submitted to a breath test with a reported value of 0.16.  Attorney Verhoff reviewed the reports and video evidence in this case and filed a motion to suppress the evidence, asserting the deputy did not have a lawful basis to conduct the traffic stop.  Relying on the statute governing signaling, Attorney Verhoff argued no traffic was impacted by his failure to signal the lane changes, as required by law.  At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, the ruled in our client's favor.  She threw out all evidence against the client and dismissed all charges.