Chirafisi Law Office

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OWI/PAC Verdict: Not Guilty, 0.147 Alcohol Concentration

A Grant County jury recently returned not guilty verdicts on charges of OWI-2nd and PAC-2nd, acquitting our client of all counts.  In November 2017, a Grant County Sheriff's Deputy stopped our client for speeding and for what he described as an unsafe passing of another vehicle.  After field sobriety tests, the client was arrested and agreed to submit to a blood test, which resulted in a reported value of 0.147.  Our office litigated the case at every turn, having an administrative review hearing and a motion hearing to suppress evidence.  This gave Attorney Verhoff several opportunities to question the deputy before trial, which proved instrumental in front of the jury.  At trial, Attorney Verhoff argued the client's driving, as seen on video, was not as poor as the deputy portrayed in his report.  He also argued the client's performance on the field sobriety tests was pretty good, particularly when compared to the high blood test results.  He even got the deputy to testify under oath that the client did "surprisingly well" on field sobriety tests, given how high his blood test was.   Attorney Verhoff suggested the disparity between the field sobriety tests and the blood test results meant something wasn't right with the case.  And that something was a problem with the collection of our client's blood.  During the cross examination of those involved in the blood collection and testing, our attorney raised these issues.  Then, with the final witness in the case, Attorney Verhoff called an expert who offered an opinion on the blood collection and testing in this case and how it likely corrupted the test results.  And the ultimate result: A not guilty verdict!