OWI/PAC 4th offense- amended to Obstructing for a Fine

This case had enormous possible consequences for the client.  A 4th offense is not only a felony, this case would have required the client lose his driver's license for a minimum of 10 years.  

He was stopped for not wearing his seatbelt and having snow covering his license plate, making it unreadable. 

Because it was a 4th offense, the client's prohibited alcohol concentration was a .02.

The officer believed the client failed field sobriety tests and placed him under arrest.  The client's blood was drawn and he was over the legal limit at a .03.

After back and forth negotiating with the prosecutor, an agreement was reached where the client would enter a plea to a misdemeanor and pay a $200.00 fine.  No jail, no felony and no loss of driver's license.

OWI 2nd offense-PAC- amended to Reckless Driving

A 911 call was placed by a bartender to the police for a "passed out" man in his vehicle in the parking lot of the bar.  The vehicle was running and the bartender could not wake the man.  Police arrived and the OWI investigation started.  The bad facts; the client had urinated in his pants (which the cops were able to see), the vehicle was running and the client was unable to successfully complete field sobriety tests.  

His test result was over the legal limit at a .09.  

After reviewing the case, we were able to challenge the blood test.  The state conceded our motion on the blood and the court suppressed the test result.

The case was still not over as the state had good evidence of impairment.  The case was resolved for a reckless driving ticket with a fine.  No jail time, no criminal conviction.  Client was very happy.

OWI Reduced to Reckless Driving

A Madison police officer stopped our client for speeding late one evening.  Upon contact with the client, the officer suspected he was impaired because the client handed the officer a credit card, rather than his driver's license.  The officer also smelled an odor of intoxicants, and the client admitted to consuming alcohol.  The officer put our client through field sobriety tests.  Although the client performed well, the officer had enough evidence to arrest him for OWI.  The prosecution initially offered the client a settlement agreement  to dismiss the speeding citation if the client entered a guilty plea to the OWI charge.  Attorney Tim Verhoff reviewed the reports and the video evidence.  He met with the prosecution, and pointed out all of the problems he believed the city attorney would have in proving the OWI case.  Prior to trial, the prosecutor made a new offer.  This time, the city attorney agreed to dismiss the speeding ticket and reduce the OWI to a charge of reckless driving, provided the client agreed to a 30-day license suspension.  Wanting to avoid a possible OWI conviction, the client gladly accepted the offer.

OWI 2nd-THC and .09- Amended to Reckless Driving

Although courts are not operating as usual because of the COVID pandemic, Chirafisi & Verhoff are still getting outstanding results for clients. 

Client was called in by a bartender who was leaving after close and noticed the vehicle running in the parking lot.  The client was behind the wheel, sleeping.  Bartender couldn't wake the client so she called the police.  Officers watched the video showing the client entering the parking lot and parking truck, never getting out and going inside the bar.  The worst fact of the case was it appeared that the client had urinated in his pants while sleeping in the truck.

There was an alleged refusal and a search warrant was issued for the client's blood.  The first challenge to the case was the warrant.  It was woefully lacking in probable cause.  Corey Chirafisi challenged the warrant and to his surprise, the government conceded the warrant was invalid.  They never raised the issue of the "good faith exception" so the court suppressed the test result.

That led to the government amending the case to reckless driving.  Client avoid jail, AODA and license revocation.

OWI/PAC .11/Inattentive Driving - Amended to Reckless Driving

Client was involved in an accident in the City of Madison at about 1:00 a.m.  Other party involved in the accident called the police stating our client, "asked him to hold his weed and bong.” When the police arrived, client admitted that he wanted the other party to hold his drugs for him. 

Client told police that he "took a nap" and that was the reason for the accident.  Breath test taken at station showed a breath test result of .11.  

Client was desperate to attempt to avoid the OWI conviction so, we got to work.  Client had one issue in the case, there was a question of whether or not an alternative test was requested.  If it was and law enforcement failed to comply, the test result would be excluded from evidence.

The day before the trial was scheduled, the prosecution moved to amend the charge to reckless driving.  No OWI, no revocation of license and no stigma.  Client was thrilled.

OWI/PAC 2nd (.20) Complete dismissal

This case came out of Dane County.  Client was arrested after traveling to a friends residence, breath test result was .20.  However, this case was full of really good issues for us to work with.  First, the police could not establish the exact time the client arrived at the location he was arrested.  That was very important as the state could not establish the test result was taken with the required 3 hour window. Further, and more importantly, the client repeatedly told the police that he had consumed alcohol after arriving at the location.  Our investigator was able to track down the liquor store the client bought the alcohol at, which also had a specific time of the purchase.  The time on the receipt made it likely that the client consumed the alcohol after arriving at the residence.  

On the morning of trial, the state moved to dismiss the case in its entirety.  

NEW YEAR STARTS WITH OWI WIN

Our office marked the start of 2020 with another great win for a Chirafisi & Verhoff client.  The Brooklyn Police Department arrested our client and charged her with OWI and PAC violations.  Prior to trial, Attorney Tim Verhoff met with the prosecutor.  He pointed out multiple problems she would have at trial, as well as a possible suppression issue.  Despite a 0.10 blood result for the client, our lawyer was able to get the prosecutor to dismiss the OWI citation outright and amend the PAC charge to a citation for reckless driving.  

OWI 1st (PAC .15) - Amended to Reckless Driving

As the year comes to an end, 2 more outstanding results for clients. The first case involves a Dane County OWI/PAC charge with a breath test result of .15.  Client was stopped because the officer believed she was sleeping at a stop light.  As the officer turned around to make contact with the client, she moved her vehicle.  The officer stopped her, smelled the order of intoxicants and he was off and running.  

Officer reported that the client failed the three field sobriety tests offered to her and ultimately submitted to a breath test which registered a .15.  The prosecution certainly believed they had a strong case.  

However, the video of the incident showed a completely different story then told by the officer.  Although the video was lengthy, it contained information which ultimately lead to the amendment of the charge.  During the interaction, the client had a question about the alternative test, the officer then provided her incorrect information regarding that test.  Once that was discovered, it was the beginning of the end.  We filed a motion to suppress the test result based on the improper information provided to the client.  Before the motion hearing even began, the prosecutor offered to amend the ticket for costs, no fine was included.

Honestly, one of the happiest clients we can remember.

August ends with three complete acquittals at trial and one dismissal before trial

August was a busy trial month for Corey Chirafisi. He tried 3 OWI cases to verdict. Each client was acquitted of their charges here are some facts of each:

August 1st- OWI1st/Refusal- Monroe County

This client was a Florida resident who was in Wisconsin working for her company. She is a heavy equipment operator and could not have a OWI conviction on her record. She had initially hired another lawyer to assist her, but when things weren't going the way she hoped, she contacted Chirafisi & Verhoff who took over the case.

The stop was for failing to have her headlights on and making an illegal U-Turn. She told the police she was "the least drunk" in the vehicle and ultimately refused to submit to a chemical test of her breath.

The case proceeded to trial with Attorney Corey Chirafisi representing the client. Because there was a refusal attached to the case, the Court decided the refusal with the jury deciding the OWI charge. The officer testified and had some difficulty on cross examination regarding field sobriety tests. He also mentioned that he was incorrect in his suspicions of impaired drivers more than he was correct. That didn't help them either. The client testified wonderfully explaining her thought process on the refusal and why she did what she did.

The jury was out around 50 minutes before finding the client not guilty of the OWI charge. In reference to the refusal, the government elected not to proceed on the refusal after the verdict.

Client was able to keep her job. We are very happy for her.

August 6th- OWI 2nd/ Grant County

Five days after the first acquittal of the month, Corey Chirafisi was back in trial on an OWI 2nd. The best part of this case was the court had earlier made a determination that the test result (.14) was to be suppressed based on a violation of the Informing the Accused form. The State made a decision to move forward with the case, even though they were doing so without a test result.

The driving was good. The basis of the stop was a burnt out taillight. The state tried to make out their case based on the client's performance on the field sobriety tests. It didn't work.

Jury was out 10 minutes and returned a not guilty verdict.

August 23rd-OWI/PAC (.14) Dane County

The third and final trial was a OWI with a .14 test result. Corey Chirafisi also tried this case. The client was pulled off the road, her drivers side tires were on the fog line, the car was running and the client was sleeping. When the officer made contact with her she immediately put the car in drive, then reverse and had some difficulty explaining where she was coming from. The case proceeded to trial with Corey Chirafisi initially getting the Court to throw the test result out because there was no indication as to time the client was on the roadway. The Court reversed its decision and allowed the jury to hear the test result of .14.

Attorney Chirafisi was able to argue that the client had made the right decision to get off the road. That her good decision was going to be punished by the state and that was contrary to what we expect our drivers to do. The client had a CDL which made the case that much more important for the client.

The jury was out for 45 minutes and found the client not guilty of both citations. Her job was saved.

Attorney Chirafisi also handled an OWI 1st with a test result of .08 this month. After some discussion of the matter, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the case outright. No amendment, no classes, nothing. Just a straight dismissal.

Not every month ends with three jury acquittals, but we are very happy that the clients had the confidence in our firm to handle these important cases for them. They are all good people who are able to get back to their lives with no problems from these cases.

OWI/PAC (.14) - Not Guilty (Dane County)

The third and final trial of August was a OWI with a .14 test result. Corey Chirafisi also tried this case. The client was pulled off the road, her drivers side tires were on the fog line, the car was running and the client was sleeping. When the officer made contact with her she immediately put the car in drive, then reverse and had some difficulty explaining where she was coming from. The case proceeded to trial with Corey Chirafisi initially getting the Court to throw the test result out because there was no indication as to time the client was on the roadway. The Court reversed its decision and allowed the jury to hear the test result of .14.

Attorney Chirafisi was able to argue that the client had made the right decision to get off the road. That her good decision was going to be punished by the state and that was contrary to what we expect our drivers to do. The client had a CDL which made the case that much more important for the client.

The jury was out for 45 minutes and found the client not guilty of both citations. Her job was saved.

OWI/PAC (.11) amended to Reckless Driving

This case stems from a stop in Price County. The officer was following our client's vehicle and initially witnessed the vehicle make a "wide turn" which the officer deemed suspicious. The officer continued to follow the vehicle and observed the vehicle driving down the center of the road, clearly over where the center line would have been.

The officer stopped the vehicle and made contact with the client. The client admitted to consuming alcohol earlier in the evening.

Where the challenge was mounted in this case was on the officer's decision to have the client perform field sobriety tests.

The video in the case was the killer for the officer. On tape, the officer stated that "he doesn't believe the client was impaired" before having him perform field tests.

We did the motion hearing and at the conclusion the court had requested that the parties file briefs on the issue. The prosecutor then offered to amend the OWI to reckless driving. The client who was a local business person was thrilled. Avoiding the OWI charge was the goal from the beginning.

OWI, PAC with 0.125 Blood Test Dismissed

In this Dane County case, the client was stopped by the Wisconsin State Patrol for speeding.  He was clearly disoriented but had several visible injuries, including a head wound.  After being arrested for OWI, the client agreed to take a blood test, which resulted in a reported value of 0.125 alcohol concentration. By all appearances, it seemed the client had been physically assaulted prior to the OWI.  Our office obtained medical records that documented the fact that the client suffered from a traumatic brain injury. Our firm's licensed private investigator also gathered physical evidence to support the belief that he had been assaulted within the hours before he drove his vehicle.  After nearly one year of negotiations, Attorney Tim Verhoff was able to convince the District Attorney's Office that the case should be dismissed because the client never intended to drive while impaired, but was suffering from the impact of an assault when he decided to drive.  The prosecutor agreed to dismiss the case prior to jury trial in the interest of justice.     

Sauk County Judge Throws Out Evidence, OWI at 0.179 Dismissed

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on recent weekend, our client was driving in downtown Baraboo.  She was waiting at a stop light with her turn signal activated.  Unfortunately, she failed to drive forward for approximately 11 seconds after the light turned green.  A police officer traveling behind her conducted a traffic stop.  Based on his interactions with the client, the officer asked her to do field sobriety tests.  She was ultimately arrested and submitted to a breath test, which lead to a reported value of 0.179.  Attorney Tim Verhoff filed a suppression motion, arguing that the client had not committed any driving infractions prior to the stop, and the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop her for driving under the influence.  After our attorney cross examined the police officer at an evidentiary hearing, the judge agreed and ruled in favor of our client, forcing the prosecutor to dismiss both the OWI charge and the PAC charge.  Once again, our attorney received one of the highest compliments a defense attorney can receive.  At the conclusion of the case, the arresting officer approached Attorney Verhoff and told him what a fantastic job he had done, as well as how much he learned by being cross-examined by our lawyer. 

OWI/PAC .10 to Reckless (Dane County)

Case #2 - OWI/PAC .10 (Dane County)

This case came to us from another lawyer in town.  As normal practice, we did the Administrative Review hearing and got the information we needed for a motion to challenge the test result.  We have said over and over again that the administrative review hearing is a great way to learn information about your case.  That was true here.  We were able to challenge the stop of the vehicle as well as the basis to conduct field sobriety tests.  Once the prosecutor saw the motions, he made a decision to offer a reckless driving.  Client never lost her license and never had to explain to her employer about her case.

3 More Outstanding Results- 2 OWI charges amended to finish the year

Case #1- OWI/Refusal-Amended to Reckless Driving (Dane County) 

When people call us and tell us that their case is "hopeless", most of the time the facts of the case are not as bad as they say.  Except here.  In this case, most of the facts were against the client.  Poor driving, excessive speed, failed field sobriety tests and a refusal to submit to a breath test.  Worst of all, our client had a license from a state (IL) where he would be facing a lengthy revocation if he was convicted of the OWI.  The great news for the client was, Chirafisi & Verhoff has been extremely successful against this particular prosecutor in multiple cases in the past and there has been a hesitation to litigate issues against us.

We believe that most of the time, the refusal drives the OWI charge, meaning if there is a way around the refusal, the OWI will fall as well.

So, we went after the refusal first.  It wasn't that difficult when we started.  We questioned whether the information provided to the client on the Informing the Accused form was correct.  The prosecutor agreed that a problem existed and quickly agreed to amend the OWI to reckless driving and to dismiss the refusal.  The client's license was saved.  

Stay tuned for our two other awesome end of 2018 results on Monday!

Not Guilty Verdict in OWI/PAC at 0.14

Our client was traveling home from a wine-pairing dinner party.  Unfortunately, the headlights on her vehicle were not on and the Maple Bluff Police Department stopped her.  The officer smelled an odor of intoxicants, and the client admitted to consuming wine during each course served at the meal.  The officer had her perform field sobriety tests and then arrested her.  The client agreed to take a breath test, which resulted in a 0.14 alcohol concentration.  One of our previous clients recommended she hire Attorney Tim Verhoff to help.  The case proceeded to trial during which Attorney Verhoff cross examined the arresting officer at length.  At the conclusion of the trial, Attorney Verhoff argued to the judge that the arresting officer lacked a constitutional basis to request the client perform field sobriety tests, and as a result, all evidence gleaned from the tests should be excluded.  The judge agreed and suppressed the evidence.  He then found the client not guilty of the OWI and the PAC charges.  On an interesting side note, another officer from the police department, who was not associated with the case, came to watch the entire trial.  He was the arresting officer in a previous case for which Attorney Verhoff secured an acquittal. The officer told our lawyer he came because he wanted to see him "in action again" and that he learned a lot from the earlier case.  He then paid our attorney one of the highest compliments a defense lawyer can receive.  As he was consoling his defeated colleague, he said, "At least you now know who to call if you ever get into trouble."  

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.

OWI Dismissed in Dane County

This case is an example of the huge difference a lawyer can make.  Our client, who is an Illinois resident, was stopped and arrested for an OWI-1st Offense.  He refused to take field sobriety tests and refused to take the chemical test of his breath.  He was also given a citation for improper refusal.  Unfortunately, the client did not realize he had to file a request for a hearing on the refusal within ten days, and he defaulted on that charge before our office got involved.  

The client did appear without a lawyer for a court date on the OWI charge.   By happenstance, Attorney Verhoff was present at this hearing and overheard the conversation the client was having with a representative from the District Attorney's Office.  The person from the DA's Office told the client there was nothing they could do about the OWI and he could either plead to it or have a trial.  The client was on the verge of pleading to the OWI when Attorney Verhoff intervened.  Our attorney informed the (now) client that entering a plea to the OWI would have catastrophic consequences on his Illinois license.  Our attorney advised him to fight the OWI.  Taking our advice, the client decided to hire our firm to help.  Attorney Verhoff immediately had the case set for  trial.  In speaking with the prosecutor assigned to the case prior to trial, Attorney Verhoff explained to him the significant consequences for an OWI conviction in Illinois.  He argued this was unduly punitive and unnecessary given the conviction that previously occurred in the refusal.  He also pointed out some of the proof problems the prosecutor might have in the OWI case.  On the day of trial, the prosecutor finally gave up on the OWI case and agreed to dismiss it.  Although the client must still deal with the impact of the refusal conviction, he was spared years worth licensing headaches in Illinois due to the OWI dismissal. 

OWI 1st- client found not guilty at trial

People who question whether or not they need a lawyer on an OWI should read this blog. 

Our client initially was going to do the case without counsel. She wanted to do that because her test result was a .079 and she thought the government would simply cave in because of the test being below the legal limit. She was wrong.  The government chose to pursue the case with the evidence they had.  They told her that they would not amend or dismiss the charges.

Finally, she reached out to Corey Chirafisi for help.  The trial was only about 2 weeks away when she hired the firm, however, we were able to review the evidence and be prepared even on the short notice.

The officer testified and at the conclusion of his testimony, the court made the finding that the government did not meet their burden of proof and found the client not guilty.

OWI 3rd/PAC Shawano County- charges amended to OWI 1st

Our client was arrested for OWI 3rd with a blood alcohol concentration of .20.  Our client was very concerned about serving a jail sentence, which was valid as their case was pending in Shawano County, a county that is usually very hard on drunk driving cases.

What we were able to do is collaterally attack the client's 2nd offense OWI from the early 1990's.  The prosecutor actually agreed that he couldn't establish the client waived his rights to counsel and stipulated to our motion. With that stipulation in place, the client's 3rd offense became a 1st offense.  No jail, minimum fine and minimum revocation.  Our client got the exact result he had hoped for.