Case Dismissed! Operating a Motor Vehicle above a .00- CDL driver while on duty time
At Chirafisi & Verhoff, many of our clients are CDL drivers. Their ability to be able to drive is their livelihood. They trust us to be able to help them avoid losing not only their license, but their jobs.
Our client is an over-the-road truck driver. He was at a weigh station speaking to a State Trooper when the trooper noticed an odor of intoxicants coming from the client’s breath. The client stated that he had consumed alcohol the night before driving. The problem for the client was that because he was in his semi truck at the time, his legal limit was 0.00. The client provided a preliminary breath test which registered a 0.02. He was then ticketed for driving above a 0.00 in a commercial motor vehicle.
The client was referred to Chirafisi & Verhoff as he knew if was convicted, he would lose his job. Almost immediately, Corey Chirafisi was able to see that there was no possible way that the government would be able to prove the case. First, while the officer was allowed to ask the client to submit to a preliminary breath test, that test would not be admissible in court against the client. The trooper never took the client in for a breath test, which would have been admissible in court. Further, the trooper, believing that the client had consumed alcohol but wasn’t impaired, never put the client through any field sobriety tests.
Once all of these facts were pointed out by Chirafisi & Verhoff, the Assistant District Attorney agreed and moved to dismiss the charges outright. Our client was relieved knowing that he would be able to continue with his employment.