COMPLETE ACQUITTAL/NOT GUILTY at JURY TRIAL (DUI & DWI (.114 BAC)- Dec. 4, 2018 – State v. Ms. H (DMC No. 14932) (Mesa City Court No. 2017-047673): Ms. M was driving at 4:00 in the afternoon near the area of Power Road and the 202 when an Officer stopped her for “drifting within her lane”. When Ms. H was contacted, she was wearing nothing but a Bikini and flip flops. She had been at the river and had only drank a couple of beers. The Officer still made her do all of the Field Sobriety Tests on the side of the road, in a bikini and flip flops. She was very embarrassed and nervous, as people driving by were witnessing this humiliating scene. Eventually, she was arrested and taken to the Mesa Police station where her blood results showed a .114 BAC.
At Jury Trial, we explained to the Jury that any performance issues during the Field Sobriety Tests were due to her nervousness and her state of dress. The original phlebotomist who drew Ms. H’s blood stated that he drew the blood from her right arm; he was very adamant about this. During the trial, photos from Ms. H’s Snapchat posts were moved into evidence for the Jury to see. In the photos it clearly showed that her right arm had no mark on it whatsoever, yet her left arm had a giant hematoma (bruise) where the Officer had drawn the blood. This threw everything that the Officer said into question. Lastly, the actual criminalist who tested the blood did not show up to trial and the prosecutor used a surrogate criminalist to testify on behalf of the original criminalist. We pointed out to the Jury that the assumptions being made by the surrogate criminalist were “everything was done absolutely properly by the original criminalist.” Ultimately, the Jury did not believe the State’s case and a verdict of Not Guilty was returned on all charges.