Friday, January 2, 2009

Informing the Accused

Another victory for the little guy....Prosecutor puts on his case-in-chief, has the officer and a witness testify, says client failed all field sobriety tests and was intoxicated. Witness testifies that he saw client driving, despite being the middle of the night at winter while being 75 feet away with lights shining in his eyes. Officers report states he read the Informing the Accused to client, but failed to testify to that fact at trial. Prosecutor closed his case-in-chief and attempted to submit the blood test results. I objected, stating no foundation, prejudice to client, and violation of his statutory and Constitutional rights because officer never testified that he read the Informing the Accused to my client, prosecutor never questioned officer about this at trial and never submitted that form into the trial record. Jury came back finding client guilty. But, the judge agreed with me and dismissed the case with prejudice, stating that my client's rights were violated.

We, as attorneys, have the duty to defend our clients and legitimize the legal process so that people's rights remain intact and so that innocent people's rights are not violated! I take that duty seriously!

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