Our client was arrested for DWI, Leaving the Scene of a Personal Injury Accident, and Failed to Keep Right. It was unclear if our client or his friend was driving. Our client was very concerned as he is in the process of becoming a Corrections Officer and a DWI conviction would make that difficult, if not impossible. Our attorneys discovered our client was in possession of valuable information that could assist the DA’s Office in felony prosecutions. In exchange for our client’s cooperation with all testimony at Grand Jury the DA’s Office dismissed the case in the interests of justice. Our client was left with no criminal record and his career plan of becoming a Corrections Officer intact.

Our client is an air traffic controller for the Army and holds a security clearance. He was snowmobiling the night of his arrest and was stopped on his way home for operating a snowmobile after midnight. He was arrested and taken to the station where he blew a .23. Our attorneys explained that our client would lose his job/career with a misdemeanor conviction. By presenting legal proof regarding the BAC and equities tied to his career, we were able to obtain an SWAI (no criminal) result, protect our client’s job, and have the record of his conviction sealed.

Our client’s initial offer was to plead guilty to a DWI, with a BAC of .27. This would leave our client with a criminal record for the rest of his life. We believed there was an issue with the stop, so we pushed forward. At hearings the officer said he stopped the vehicle because of a welfare check. He admitted there were no traffic infractions and that the stop was based solely on the concern for the wife. After the hearings, we submitted a memo of law outlining our issues. In the end, the Judge ruled that this was in fact, a bad stop and suppressed all the evidence and as a result, the case was dismissed.

Law enforcement said our client had a BAC of 0.21 and had caused an accident in which he rolled his vehicle. During extensive negotiations with the prosecution, we were able to demonstrate that the accident was caused by inclement weather and our client had extensive equities from prior military combat experience. The result was an offer to a DWAI which is a non-criminal traffic infraction that – due to the accident and high BAC – was significantly outside of the District Attorney’s reduction policy.