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A North Carolina state highway trooper reportedly did not appear in court Monday. The court calendar apparently included at least 20 cases involving allegations of driving while impaired where the trooper was the arresting officer. In all, as many as 90 misdemeanor traffic charges were scheduled for hearing and in the absence of the state’s star witness, the Montgomery County judge presiding over the court calendar reportedly dismissed the charges.

It is unclear from news reports at what stage the court cases had reached before the trooper failed to appear in court Monday. The District Attorney’s Office apparently refused to indicate whether or not prosecutors will seek to pursue any of the cases, including the 20 or so cases involving DWI charges. It is equally unclear from the media whether the prosecutor or the judge initiated the dismissals.

The state trooper who had ticketed the defendants who had court appearances Monday is also a Candor town commissioner. He has been under fire after his own arrest on serious allegations that he unlawfully accessed a government computer. Some people apparently are speculating that the town commissioner’s legal difficulties may be one explanation for his failure to appear as a state trooper to support the prosecutor’s misdemeanor cases in criminal court.

It may be possible that many of the 90 dismissed cases, including the DWI charges, could be brought back into court for prosecution. In the meantime, those who had been charged with the variety of crimes may be in legal limbo as prosecutors decide how to proceed.

Greenville DWI defense lawyers understand that many people can be confused by many aspects of the complex rules of court in North Carolina. Often, in misdemeanor cases especially, many people in Pitt County and other areas of North Carolina are tempted to just pay the ticket or plead guilty in court to get the matter behind them.

It is important to discuss an individual case to consider speaking with an experienced criminal defense attorney when facing a charge to better understand what potential defenses may be available and what the consequences may arise as a result of pleading guilty to a crime.

Sources:

WFMY News, “Wayne Holyfield No Show In Court; 90 Traffic Cases ‘Dismissed’,” April 30 2012

WFMY News, “Candor Commissioner Wayne Holyfield Refuses To Resign Despite Community Demands,” April 10, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

After roughly a-year-and-a-half of legal wrangling, North Carolina drunk driving charges against a Pender County Commissioner have been dropped. The District Court Judge presiding over the case dismissed the driving while impaired charges last Friday. The case was continued several times during the course of the criminal proceedings, with delays in September, December, February and again last month.

But the case was not delayed without legal argument along the way. The defense argued that certain issues in the case violated the defendant’s constitutional rights. In February, a judge in Mecklenburg County agreed and granted a pre-trial defense motion to suppress Breathalyzer test results in the case.

The judge found constitutional violations in the police encounter, and based upon the violations of the defendant’s rights during the traffic stop and the subsequent DWI arrest, the judge has dismissed the DWI charges.

The case arose after citizens reported a stopped vehicle in the middle of the road in Matthews, North Carolina. Police reportedly responded to the area and observed a truck along the side of the road with its door open. Police claim the driver moved the truck to a nearby parking lot and parked.

The police officer stopped his cruiser behind the truck, blocking it in the parking space, and notified the driver that he was not free to leave. The officer admitted that he had not observed any violation of law, or any suspicious activity to justify the traffic stop and detention of the driver.

Generally, the Constitution provides more than mere technicalities. Pitt County DWI defense lawyers know that our country was founded on the concept that all individuals have the right to be free from unreasonable intrusions by government officials. Arguably, if law enforcement can effectively arrest drivers for parking in a public parking lot, our constitutional guarantees would have little meaning.

Sources:

Star News Online, “Pender official’s drunken driving charge dismissed,” Brian Freskos, April 16, 2012

Star News Online, “Pender commissioner’s DWI case delayed,” March 26, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Driving while impaired charges filed against a North Carolina assistant district attorney were recently dropped after his defense argued that the prosecutor had insufficient evidence to support the allegations. The DWI charges followed an investigation of a bicycle accident at a golf course at a hotel. Police found the man injured from the bicycle accident and later grew suspicious that the man was under the influence.

The man suspected of riding a bicycle while impaired refused to submit to a breath test. Officers apparently believed that the man was impaired and a criminal case was brought against the man, apparently based upon the officer’s suspicion of impairment.

Greenville DWI defense lawyers are aware that North Carolina law allows prosecutors to seek DWI charges on two separate theories. Most North Carolina drivers know that the legal limit to drive is set at 0.08 percent or more Blood alcohol concentration. However, prosecutors can also rely upon an arresting officer’s testimony concerning the officer’s observations at the time of the investigation.

Prosecutors pursued DWI charges against the man who had been riding a bike at a private golf course. The state did not have a breath test result to pursue presumed impairment based upon a test result.

The defense argued that the state could not prove that the man rode the bicycle in a public area, but only at the golf course. The man had been attending a conference at a hotel associated with the golf course.

Additionally, the DWI defense argued that police observed that the man had a broken nose and facial lacerations. The defense argued that the prosecutor could not prove that any disorientation that the cop may have observed on the night of the accident was insufficient to prove impairment from alcohol. The defense argued that any disorientation the man may have displayed could reasonably be attributed to the injuries the man sustained in the bicycle accident.

The DWI charges were dismissed recently in Brunswick County.

Drivers who refuse to submit to an alcohol test under North Carolina’s implied consent laws can face an automatic civil revocation of their driver’s license. The man reportedly brought a challenge to the civil license revocation. News reports indicate that it was determined in an October 2011 hearing that insufficient evidence existed to support the license revocation.

Source: Hickory Record, “Charges against assistant district attorney Bellas dismissed,” Sarah Newell Williamson, Jan. 25, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Every American is entitled to the protections afforded by the United States Constitution and the constitution of the state they are in. These protections are especially important to people who are suspected of a crime.

The violation of a criminal suspect’s constitutional rights can seriously impair the state’s ability convict the suspect of a crime. Recently, a North Carolina judge threw out a DWI charge because the suspect was not allowed to have a DWI defense lawyer present when he took his breath test.

The suspect in the case was a captain in the Thomasville Police Department. In early December, he was pulled over at a DWI checkpoint on the Interstate 95 Business Loop in High Point.

There, the High Point police requested that the man submit to a Breathalyzer sobriety test. He requested that his attorney be present for the test. He then called his lawyer, who indicated that he would be willing to travel to the DWI checkpoint to observe the Breathalyzer.

The High Point Police denied the man’s request and refused to wait for the attorney to arrive. The man then submitted to the Breathalyzer and blew a 0.08. Under North Carolina law, a person is considered to be legally intoxicated – and thus in violation of the state’s DWI law – if his or her blood alcohol content is 0.08 or higher.

Although the Breathalyzer results showed that the man was probably guilty of driving while intoxicated, the test could not be used as evidence against him. According to the judge, the High Point Police violated the man’s constitutional rights when they refused to allow him to have his attorney present. Evidence collected using procedures that violate a criminal suspect’s constitutional rights is not admissible in court.

Since there was no other evidence that could convict the man, the judge had no choice but to dismiss his case.

Source: The Dispatch, “DWI Charge on TPC Captain Dismissed,” David Bodenheimer & Darrick Ignasiak, Jan. 27, 2012.

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm