Client was arrested after police found him wandering away from the scene of a single vehicle accident. Client was unable to speak clearly and was unaware he had been involved in a car accident. Based on the accident, the inability of the client to communicate clearly and the fact he was walking without shoes, led the officers to suspect the client was impaired. The client was arrested and tested positive for Delta 9 THC in his blood. That is a strict liability offense in WI. If you are driving a motor vehicle and have a detectable amount of Delta 9 in your system, you are guilty, even without being impaired. We filed a motion challenging the continued detention for field sobriety tests without reasonable suspicion.
The state did not want to have the motion hearing, even with the low standard of reasonable suspicion and a slam dunk case if they prevailed at the motion hearing. The state offered to amend the OWI/RCS charge to Reckless Driving without the client having to go forward with the motion hearing.