Prosecutors charged our client with a felony count of hit and run, causing great bodily harm after he was involved in an accident and left the scene. Police, who investigated the case prior to the client hiring our firm, contacted him about his car being involved in an accident. The client admitted to driving and being involved in the crash. Authorities then filed a felony criminal charge against him. Due to our client's business, he could not afford a felony conviction. Nor could he stay in business if his license was revoked for a period of two years, one of the consequences of being convicted of the felony charge. Although police and prosecutors suspected the client was impaired at the time of the accident, they could not prove an OWI. Understanding our client's needs, as well as the prosecution's desires, Attorney Verhoff worked out a creative solution to the case. Aware that the government would like to get an OWI conviction out of the case, he proposed the client enter a plea and be convicted of a non-criminal first offense drunken driving and in exchange he asked the prosecution to amend the case from a felony causing great bodily harm to a misdemeanor hit and run that did not include injury. Spared the a felony conviction, as well as a prolonged license revocation, the client was very satisfied with the outcome.
Great Bodily Harm OWI Avoids Felony Conviction
This case is another example of why hiring an attorney as soon as possible in a case, even before a charged is issued, can be critical to the outcome. About one year ago, our client was involved in a terrible crash. The other driver was significantly injured, suffering a broken back, which has never completely healed. At the time of the crash, our client had a reported alcohol concentration that was in excess of 0.21 percent. Only days after the incident, the client hired Chirafisi & Verhoff, based on a recommendation from another lawyer in Madison. Attorney Verhoff immediately contacted the prosecution and began negotiating the case. Through his efforts, the prosecution agreed to forego charging a felony; instead, filing a misdemeanor charge of OWI causing injury. The client later entered a plea and was convicted. Because Attorney Verhoff was not able to reach a negotiated settlement for sentence, the parties argued to the judge what they thought the appropriate sentence should be. Going into the hearing, Attorney Verhoff believed the prosecutor was likely to argue the significant injury and a high alcohol concentration merited a lengthy jail sentence. Attorney Verhoff knew he would have to counter these powerful, emotionally-charged arguments. Prior to sentencing, he prepared and filed an extensive memorandum that provided the judge information about the client, including records to document the client's extensive alcohol treatment after the crash, her voluntary use of a sobrietor while the case was pending, her participation in alcohol awareness programs, her volunteer efforts in her community, and many character references describing her qualities as a person. After reading our sentencing memorandum, the prosecutor indicated he still planned to ask for a lengthy sentence. However, he decided to recommend a sentence that was five months less than originally planned. The parties appeared at the sentencing hearing and the prosecution recommended six months in jail. Attorney Verhoff recommended half that amount. In the end, the judge agreed with Attorney Verhoff and sentenced the client to 90 days in jail. Although ultimately convicted of a criminal offense, the client avoided a felony on her record and received a sentence that was approximately nine months less than the prosecution originally demanded at the beginning of the case.