Not Guilty/Complete Acquittal at Jury trial – DUI & DWI (.123 BAC) – State v. Mr. C (DMC No. 15766) – May 31, 2019 – Tempe City Court (Case No. 19-000913): Mr. S worked the night shift for his job and usually slept in the day. On this particular day, he stayed up and did some maintenance work putting flooring into his house. He then took a nap at around noon time. Later on he woke up at around 6 o’clock got up and got ready and met his friends at the Cornish Pasty in Mesa, Arizona. While he was there he drank 2 to 3 beers.
He left with a friend of his and drove her car as a designated driver. He was subsequently pulled over by an undercover Officer at about 12:30 a.m. The Officer said that he was weaving into the bike lane, and Mr. S responded that he was distracted by his passenger trying to give him directions to her house. He was pulled out of the car and asked to do field sobriety tests.
While he was doing these tests, he performed very well. He kept his foot up for all 30 seconds during the one leg stand test. In addition, he conducted a walk and turn test in which the officer said he had stepped off the line numerous times. At jury trial we were able to show the officer’s chest cam video proving that Mr. S had not stepped off the line at all. In addition, all of the field tests showed that he looked rock solid. He later provided a breath test which produced a reading of .123 BAC.
Because his field sobriety tests were done so well, they did not match up with the .123 BAC reading. We also had our Expert Witness attack the validity of the breath test, as he pointed out numerous flaws in the breath testing science and the maintenance of that particular device. Ultimately, the jury went out and deliberated and came back and returned a verdict of Not Guilty on all charges.