The Maple Bluff Police Department stopped our client for a registration plate lamp being out in the early morning hours. The officer noticed an odor of intoxicants coming from the client and had him complete field sobriety tests. The client was arrested and agreed to submit to the a breath test, which showed an alcohol concentration of 0.10. As the case moved forward, the the prosecutor offered to settle the case for a dismissal of the lamp violation and a plea to the OWI for the statutory minimum penalties. With little to lose, the client listened to our advice and rejected the offer.
At the trial, Attorney Verhoff objected to the manner in which the prosecution attempted to introduce the test results on grounds of a lack of proper foundation. The judge sustained the objection and the test result was never received into evidence. At the conclusion of the trial, Attorney Verhoff argued that there could be no conviction on the PAC charge due to a lack of a test result received into evidence. While he acknowledged the client should be convicted of the lamp violation, he argued the government failed to prove the OWI. He honed in on the lack of any bad driving and the officer's answers to his questions regarding the client's performance on field sobriety test.
After the trial, but before the verdict was rendered, the arresting officer and the bailiff both complimented Attorney Verhoff on his performance. The arresting officer, who does OWI training for his department, even told Attorney Verhoff he would be using the cross examination and trial experience when he trains other officers in the future. While it was nice, if not unusual, to receive adulation from the officer who made the arrest, the verdict was even better: Not guilty on both the OWI and the PAC!