It’s no secret that police often write OUI police reports generically, using a laundry list of common OUI symptoms relating to physical appearance, driving, and field sobriety testing. Sometimes these reports are essentially templates in which a select few facts are unique to the defendant. The fictional on-size-fits-all OUI suspect…
In Massachusetts drunk driving cases, it can be useful to have a blood sample that can be compared to breathalyzer results. Recognizing this, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 263 Section 5A gives those suspected of drunk driving the right to an independent physical examination, and the police officer in charge of…
Bullcoming v. New Mexico, argued before the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday March 2, 2011, presents a question that may have important implications in Massachusetts OUI/DUI/drunk driving cases: Does a blood-alcohol test admitted without the analyst’s actual in-court testimony violate a defendant’s Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights? Before delving…
State Senator Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, has filed a bill designed to strengthen Melanie’s Law by requiring ignition interlock devices for six months after a first drunk driving offense. In an effort to close “loopholes,” his bill would also prohibit bundling (punishing two or more concurrent drunk driving offenses…
In Massachusetts and many other states, individuals can be punished when, after realizing their inability to drive safely, they voluntarily pull over to sleep it off. Whether this is in the interest of public policy is highly debatable. The reasoning is that drivers who are questioning their own sobriety should…
As a Massachusetts drunk-driving defense attorney, I’d like to remind my readers of their rights (or lack thereof) when it comes to sobriety checkpoints and roadblocks. A large range of purported “lesser intrusions,” like inspections and regulatory searches have been upheld by both the United States Supreme Court and lower…
As a Massachusetts OUI criminal defense attorney, I wrote in April about the death of a young woman from Salem, 19-year-old Julia Gauthier, in a drunk driving accident. Gauthier was riding home from a party in a car driven by her boyfriend, Christopher Maxson, when he ran two stop signs,…
As a Massachusetts intoxicated driving criminal defense attorney, I am against invasive police searches of people who are merely suspected of crimes. That’s why I was disturbed by a Dec. 13 CNN article saying the federal government would like states to make blood tests mandatory for suspected DUI drivers who…
A recent drunk driving arrest caught my eye as a Massachusetts OUI criminal defense attorney because of the length of the driver’s previous record. As the Boston Globe reported Dec. 7, 52-year-old Vernon Perry of East Providence, RI, is facing his ninth charge of operating a vehicle under the influence…
Back in August, I wrote about the arrest of former Big Dig chief Matthew Amorello for operating under the influence of alcohol. Amorello is a former chief of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, but best known for resigning his post after part of the Ted Williams Tunnel collapsed during the Big…