What Are Some Interesting DUI Cases You Have Handled?

One of my clients was a methamphetamine user who was in an accident and he was out of the car. He
assumed they could not tell he was driving because the officer did not see him drive, whereas there were
actually two other witnesses there who did talk to the officer. But, there still was a question regarding the
identification of my client. So he avoided a DUI.

I had a case in which a client approached a police officer with a wad of money to bail out her friend who
the police had pulled over. Unfortunately it was not her friend. The cop suspected she was drunk. He told
her to walk the line. She was a gymnast. She walked the line on her hands. The cop was so pissed he
handcuffed her and threw her into the front seat of his police car. Big mistake! Gymnasts have strong legs.
She kicked out his windshield.

They beat the crap out of her at the jail. The DA was pissed but they could not prove a DUI. They never
saw her drive. They only gave her 1 FST, even though she didn’t follow instructions. She did walk the line.
She paid for the cop’s windshield and pled guilty to disorderly conduct. I thought it was a great result.
Some people go to trial when they should not. I represented someone who was in the military. He was
going to the PX in the morning, but unfortunately had some drinks the night before. He had a lot to drink,
because the next morning someone saw that he was walking unsteadily. He got into his car and started
driving but was pulled over.

I was able to have a plea bargain on the table for a stay of adjudication but the client absolutely would not
take it. I told him he would be convicted if we moved forward, but he decided he wanted to go forward. It
is the client’s right to decide how they wanted to proceed (plead or go to trial) in any type of criminal case.
The client has two decisions, whether to plead or go to trial, and whether or not to testify if they went to
trial. Everything else is the lawyer’s responsibility such as tactics, which witnesses to put on or not put on
and how to conduct cross examination.

Many clients become upset at that because they feel that since it is their case, they should be able to
direct how to proceed. I recently had a federal case that was a drug case instead of a DUI. The client
wanted me to file certain motions and do certain things that I did not think were appropriate.

He had a pretty storied criminal history, and based on that kind of criminal history, the federal court and
the state would most likely sentence him to prison. Without a criminal record, he would be more likely to
get probation depending on the severity of crime.

I once had a case in which my client and his wife were fighting while the car was parked he was in the
driver’s seat. His wife took off all of her clothes. I asked why? She said, “I always take my clothes off when I
get drunk.” She became belligerent with the officer and he told her if she didn’t leave he would arrest her.
She walked home Buck Naked! Another police are approached her and asked what she was doing. He
drove her home, but not before he put a tarp on the back seat of his car. You just can’t make this stuff up.