Bringing In Co-Counsel Results In Another DWI Success
Ramsay Law Firm recently won yet another DWI case by using our scientific knowledge to challenge a breath test result. In this case, like many others we've consulted on over the last year, we were not the original attorney of record. Instead, the individual who lost his license after a DWI arrest originally retained a different (and very competent) Minnesota DWI defense attorney. That attorney was more than capable of guiding this individual through the legal web that makes up Minnesota's DWI laws -- but knew enough to know what he was good at, and where he needed a little assistance.
The breath test result in this case was measured as just slightly higher than a legal threshold and, as we all know, a test over a legal threshold brings with it a long list of criminal and civil consequences. The attorney fought hard to try and reach a settlement, but nobody seemed willing to budge -- either on the criminal charges, or on the license revocation. Everyone was in a deadlock, and a series of trials seemed imminent.
We were then hired by this individual's attorney for a very limited purpose: challenging the validity, accuracy, and reliability of that test result. We've literally been writing the book on this subject over the last year, and have more experience fighting this issue than any other attorney in Minnesota (and probably the whole country). This time, as we were following our standard practice of gathering the necessary information and filing our scientific breath test challenges, we had to stop short. Not because we uncovered any dramatic new evidence, but because the state suddenly changed its position and agreed that we had the ability to successfully disprove the validity, accuracy, and reliability of the test result. Rather than go through a long fight, the state changed its original position and instead agreed to treat our client's breath test as though it was not over the legal threshold!
We like to fight, but that doesn't mean we weren't very happy to reach an agreement and provide relief to an individual who had lost his license. Nothing feels better than having the ability to help another person facing the consequences of an alleged DWI and his attorney convince the state to do the right thing.