Missouri DWI Dismissed after Motion to Suppress was filed
September 2016
City of Peculiar vs. JK: Client charged with DWI and lane violation following a car stop and refusal of the breath test. A warrant was obtained to draw blood, and blood result of .106 was just over the legal limit. We filed a Motion to Suppress based on the officer's poor administration of the field sobriety testing, arguing 2 of the 3 tests (HGN, One Leg Stand, Walk and Turn) lacked credibility due to officer's failure to remove driver's eye glasses before the HGN test as required under NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) guidelines. Furthermore, the officer did not adequately demonstrate the one leg stand test as required under NHTSA, performing only a partial demonstration. The officer's failure to thoroughly conduct the "instruction" phase required before the field tests are completed was persuasive in my effort to get a dismissal of the DWI charge. The "totality of the circumstances" test employed by DWI courts fell in favor of a dismissal based on lack of probable cause to arrest the driver. We also prevailed at the driver's license hearing conducted in Circuit Court due to the same issues with field testing. Had it not been for my research and knowledge of the officer's training and field testing protocol under NHTSA, this driver would have lost his license for a year and taken a conviction or suspended sentence on the DWI charge.
