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

SAMPLE CASE NO. 14 - State v. A.S. (District Court, Kenai)

A.S. is a heavy equipment operator. He and his wife had traveled to Kenai for a sport fishing weekend. As they were unable to find a public campsite, they pulled onto some rural private property and were going to camp there. A.S. had admittedly been drinking some alcohol that evening. Shortly after he parked his van he and his wife were getting ready to set up camp. A state trooper pulled his patrol vehicle onto a driveway leading to the property. The trooper walked past A.S.’s vehicle and through a gate in the driveway leading to the private property. He then saw A.S. and made contact with him. The officer allegedly administered field "sobriety tests" which A.S. allegedly failed. The officer arrested A.S. for driving while intoxicated and took him to a police station. A breath test was administered with a .192 result. A.S. retained Mr. Slone to represent him in the criminal case. A.S. had one prior DWI conviction within the last 10 years, and faced a minimum 20 day jail term and a minimum 1 year license revocation if convicted.

Mr. Slone obtained discovery materials from the State, including an audio recording of the events that transpired at the station. A careful review of the audio recording indicated that A.S. had taken a shot of Primatine Mist inhaler approximately 3 ½ minutes before blowing into the breath testing device.

Mr. Slone filed a pretrial motion to suppress the breath test evidence on the grounds that the officer failed to comply with a regulation which requires that the arrestee not have anything in his or her mouth during the 15 minutes immediately before the breath test is administered. Mr. Slone also filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained after the officer made contact with A.S., and dismiss the charges, on the grounds that the officer violated A.S.’s constitutional rights when the officer entered the private property without a warrant or emergency.

After Mr. Slone’s motions were filed, the District Attorney agreed to dismiss the charges in their entirety, and the case was dismissed without any further court hearings.

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