Boating OWI/PAC Dismissed at 0.09
Our client was boating with friends on Lake Mendota during the July 4th holiday. While attending a local fireworks display, authorities stopped him for using an unauthorized sound device. Upon contact, law enforcement smelled the odor of intoxicants coming from our client, who admitted to consuming alcohol over several hours. The client agreed to submit to field sobriety tests. Although law enforcement observed sufficient clues to arrest him, he performed pretty well, particularly on the horizontal gaze nystagmus (eye) test. He then agreed to take a chemical test of his breath, which produced a 0.09 result. In meeting with the prosecution, Attorney Verhoff argued that there was no bad boating operation and the offense for which police made contact with our client was questionable. Our lawyer said the client was acting like any other good American when sounding a horn during the fireworks display. Coupled with the low test result and good performance on the field sobriety tests, our attorney suggested this case might be a hard one for the prosecution to prove at trial. Ultimately, the prosecution agreed with his assessment. Although our client was asked to complete a boater safety course, the District Attorney's Office agreed to dismiss both the boating OWI and PAC citations if the client agreed to be convicted of using an unnecessary boat whistle. He did and was thrilled with the outcome we achieved.