OWI 1st/PAC- .12- Charges Dismissed on the Morning of Jury Selection

This case is an example of why OWI 1st offenses should proceed to trial.  The client was a middle aged business owner with no prior record of any kind.  Police made contact with him because he “relieved” himself in a parking lot and the case moved forward from there.  He was ultimately arrested and provided a blood sample that came back at .12.  He hired a different lawyer who called Chirafisi & Verhoff and requested assistance in cross examining the blood expert.  We did open records requests of the machine and were ready to go.

The morning of trial rolled around and as the case was being called, the prosecution suddenly stated that they were not prepared and moved to adjourn the case.  The Court had rescheduled the case enough and not only denied the government’s motion to adjourn, the Court dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it could never be charged again.