Refusals can be difficult. Some people believe that if they refuse to submit to a test that there case will be better because the prosecution may not have a test result to work with. That is what happened in this case.
Our client was stopped for speeding after a night out with her husband. The officer noticed an open bottle of champagne in the vehicle and described the client as having slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.
The client was asked to perform field sobriety tests and, according to the officer, she failed all three tests, refused to submit to a preliminary breath test and when taken to the department, she also refused an intoximeter.
The client looked around for a lawyer and ultimately made contact with Chirafisi & Verhoff. Upon reviewing the paperwork in the case, we found a problem with the Informing the Accused form which could have impacted a refusal hearing.
Attorney Corey Chirafisi waited with this information until the morning of the refusal hearing. As the hearing was starting, the prosecutor was made aware that the form he was going to use was outdated and was going to be a problem in proving the refusal. Before the refusal hearing began, the prosecutor agreed to amend the OWI to a reckless driving and to dismiss the refusal as well.
The client was given a small fine, no drivers license revocation and she was thrilled with the result.