Drunk Driving Cases
Alaska DWI Lawyer
Frederick T. Slone, Esq.

SAMPLE CASE NO. 4 - State v. L.C. - (District Court, Palmer)

This was the third DWI case in which Mr. Slone represented L.C. The first case resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial. The second case, three years later, also resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial.

In this case, a trooper was dispatched to the scene of a single vehicle accident near Mile 80 of the Glenn Highway. The complainant advised dispatch that the driver of a vehicle was drunk and that the driver would not let anyone check on the child that was in the vehicle to see if the child was injured. As the trooper neared the scene, dispatch advised him that an older Volkswagen van had been seen stopped at the accident scene and left the area.

As the officer neared the scene of the accident, he saw a Volkswagen van leaving the area. The officer stopped the vehicle and contacted the driver to see if anyone had witnessed the accident. The driver, L.C.’s girlfriend, told the police that she had been the one involved in the accident, and that L.C., and their two children, had been coming back to Anchorage after Caribou hunting. She told the officer that she was driving a Ford pickup that was involved in the accident and that L.C. had been driving the Volkswagen van. She had swerved to avoid a moose in the road and went into the ditch in the pickup.

At the time the officer stopped the van, L.C. was in the back of the van. The officer interviewed him and he appeared intoxicated. L.C. was given the standard field sobriety tests, which he allegedly failed. He was arrested for DWI and taken to a trooper station where a breath test was administered with a .160 result.

L.C. and his girlfriend advised the police that they had stopped at a nearby lodge after L.C.’s girlfriend hit the ditch and L.C. had drank some alcohol. After the arrest, a trooper went to the lodge and questioned the owners of the lodge, who indicated neither of the individuals had anything to drink there.

Mr. Slone filed pretrial motions to suppress the breath test evidence on the grounds that the police denied L.C.’s request at the station to call his mother. State law requires that police honor an arrestee’s request to contact a friend or relative before deciding whether to submit to a breath test. Mr. Slone also filed a pretrial motion to suppress all evidence obtained after the stop and dismiss the case on the grounds that the initial stop of the Volkswagen van was in violation of L.C.’s constitutional rights.

After the District Attorney reviewed Mr. Slone’s motions, she agreed to dismiss the DWI charge and L.C. agreed to plead no contest to the reduced charge of reckless driving. L.C. was not required to serve any jail time or pay any fine, but was ordered to complete some community work service.

Mr. Slone had also earlier successfully represented L.C. in the Administrative Revocation Hearing. The administrative revocation action was dismissed and L.C.’s license reinstated.

Because L.C., a mechanic, had prior DWI convictions in cases in which he was not represented by Mr. Slone, he avoided a substantial period of jail time and fine.

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