Not Guilty/Complete Acquittal at Jury Trial – DUI & DWI (.119 BAC) – State v. Mr. S (DMC No. 17221) – May 17, 2022 – Pioneer Justice Court (Case No. TR2021–000080):
Police received a call claiming there was a motorcycle accident and they responded to location on a busy road which had no shoulder. When they arrived, they found Mr. S and his wife standing on the roadside, and there was another gentleman who had loaded Mr. S’s motorcycle into his trailer. The Officers never saw Mr. S driving, however, he indicated in his report Mr. S was driving and had an accident. He then conducted a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) eye test and found 6 out of 6 cues. No other tests were done, due to the fact there was no shoulder on the roadway and heavy traffic was driving by.
The Officer then gave Mr. S a hand-held breath test, and then subsequently arrested him for DUI. The Officer then took Mr. S to the police station and told him that he would need to give a blood test. He did not read the Administrative Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit as required by law. Blood was subsequently obtained from Mr. S which showed a .119 BAC.
At Jury Trial, we were able to get the blood results and DWI charge dismissed by the Judge, due to obtaining Mr. S’s blood without going through the proper procedures. In other words, the consent was not truly voluntary. During the Jury Trial, nobody could testify that they actually saw Mr. S driving, or when he drove, and the State’s expert could not tell the Jury what Mr. S’s blood alcohol content was at the time of the accident. Ultimately, the Jury came back with a verdict of Not Guilty, and
Mr. S has no criminal conviction on his record.