The defendant was stopped at 3:30am by the Edgewater Police Department for speeding and driving with her high beam headlights on. The officer noticed the smell of alcohol and blood shot, glassy eyes upon making contact with the driver and asked her to perform field sobriety exercises. The driver began to perform the exercises, however was unable to complete them and was placed under arrest for DUI. During a search incident to arrest a pipe was found which the driver admitted was used for smoking cannabis. There was nobody else in the vehicle to which possession of the pipe could be attributed. The driver was then taken back to the Edgewater Police Department and given a breath test, the result of which indicated the client had a .16 BAC (twice the legal limit). After litigating the issues and lengthy negotiations with the State, we were able to convince the State to reduce the DUI charge and dismiss the paraphernalia count.
DUI & Criminal Division
