Ithaca DWI Lawyer: How Important is Police Paperwork in MY DWI case?

Sometimes people get their DWI police report. Often people arrested for a DWI do not get this information at the beginning of their case. Even defense attorneys don't usually get this information early in a DWI case.

But if people get their DWI police narrative report they tend to place way too much emphasis about what it all says. They get all wrapped up in it's opinion of them and their behavior.

Is the police DWI report important?

Who gets to see the police DWI report?

Is the the police DWI report evidence?

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: Pulled Over by Plate, Can the Police Do That?

We get phone calls all the time about whether the police had probable cause to pull over cars. Often it's a "he said/she said" in court where the police and the driver have a difference of opinions about what actually happened. The ability to produce probable or reasonable cause to stop a car is many and varied.

Out on the road without body cameras, whose to say what really happened? In New York State as of 2017 body and law enforcement vehicle cameras are still a rarity. So it goes "Well I wasn't speeding, I always use my signals, I didn't go through that stop sign, I paused briefly, and it goes on and on." Police often have the upper hand because judges tend to side with law enforcement, and many judges are former police officers.

These days the police regularly run your plate/tag. They have machines mounted on their cars that are high speed plate readers. Any problems with your vehicle registration being out of date or your insurance or your inspection can lead to a stop.

Is it legal for them to use your plate (tag) information to then pull your car over?

Is that plate information fair game for a legal stop?

What if the computer  is wrong, can they still use information from the car stop against you?

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: New York Police Use Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement

This Ain't a CITE? 

I love acronyms and cars, so when the New York State Police rolls out their CITE vehicles I get excited. The state police are on a crack down this summer for texting, calling, ipod-ing, gps-ing and driving. In other words hunting down distracted dangerous drivers.

So what's a CITE vehicle?

How is it being used to get those violating the law?

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: The Fellow Officer Rule

from NY daily news, lots of officers at a scene

As DWI defense attorneys we are always looking for an angle in our cases. A perspective that may lead to a way to keep out evidence, diminish evidence, or even to show that police conduct was improper (illegal). Sometimes it is luck, which is just opportunity meeting preparedness. You have to look and then look some more, something maybe there that you don't see at first glance. In People v. Jace we have attorneys who make just such an argument. They saw something that could be used as a defense to multiple counts of New York DWI.


What did these attorneys see? 

After all this was an DWI accident case where a SUV hit a house. Not an easy case to defend by any stretch of the imagination especially in Long Island, NY.

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: Pringle Hearings As a DWI Defense Strategy

Sometimes a Pringle Can Be
the Perfect Tool

In my continuing series of blog posts concerning the use, misuse, and history of the Pringle DWI hearing I will now share a "war" story. In the lawyer world a war story is a tale told by an attorney about one of his/her cases. Sometimes they can involve the unusual, the funny, the outrageous, or even the clever.

A DWI defense lawyer can use a Pringle hearing in a number of situations. I like to have a good reason to file a motion, request a hearing, or to challenge any piece of evidence.

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: Using a DWI Pringle Hearing

I don't like these Pringles at all, gross!

A recent case where a lawyer asked for a Pringle DWI hearing was in Lake Placid, NY. The defendant was being arraigned for an Aggravated DWI. His BAC was .23, now that's pretty high, at almost 3x the legal limit. Way over .08 BAC the judge needs to take your license (suspension pending prosecution). The stop of the car was for a good reason (traffic violation) going over double yellow lines.

So why did the lawyer demand a Pringle hearing?

Ithaca DWI Lawyer: Pringle Hearings and Suspension Pending Prosecution

This is a delicious Pringle

Back when I was new to New York DWI I attended my first DUI program. They talked about "Pringle" and what it meant to ask for a Pringle.

Why would you even have a Pringle hearing? Many lawyers, judges, and even prosecutors are in the dark when it comes to understanding Pringle. I love Pringle potato chips but that's not the point, I think the point is applying specific legal knowledge to a specific legal goal.