BASIC FACTS: The defendant in this case drove his boat onto an island in a lake.  The police arrived at the island to investigate the accident.  When they arrived they found the defendant, his boat, and numerous empty beer bottles scattered around the island.  The defendant wisely refused to answer any questions about drinking.  The police demanded his license and registration.  Next the police marched the defendant through a battery of seated gymnastics called “marine field sobriety tests”.  He supposedly failed the “pen test”, also known as the “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus” test, which is when the officer waives his pen in front of the driver’s face and decides the driver is impaired by alcohol.  He went on to fail the “finger count test”  The “finger count test is like a parlor trick in which the driver has to touch the tips of his fingers while counting out loud, faster and faster until he makes a few mistakes, at which point the officer deems him to have “failed” this “test”.  After the finger counting came a “palm pat test”, another weird exercise in which the driver flips his palm over and back while counting rapidly until he makes a mistake and “fails” it.  The driver also performed a “finger to nose test”, an old law enforcement favorite.  Back at the station the defendant chose not to blow into the breath testing machine.

DEFENSE:     No one saw the driver crash into the island.  No one saw the driver drink the beers.  No one knew what the driver’s condition regarding sobriety was at the time of the accident.  This was a classic reasonable doubt in a circumstantial evidence case.  After trial, the defendant was found:  NOT GUILTY!!! 

RESULT:       NOT GUILTY!!!

Attorney Stevens thanks God for this successful defense!!!

Contact Information:
If you leave a voice message or send an email, please include ONLY the following information:

• Date of any alleged offense you have been charged with.
• The court in which you have been told to appear.
• The date and time you have been told to appear.

Information in this column should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Mark Stevens Law Office, nor any attorney associated with the Mark Stevens Law Office. The information contained herein is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts and circumstances. Please bear in mind that laws change frequently. We will make an effort to update the information on a regular basis, but are under no obligation to do so. No part of this document, nor any information contained in this website, may be disseminated without this paragraph. This may be considered legal advertising.

www.1-800-dial-dui.com

Original Web Page Development by Randy Bone.
Copyright 2006, Attorney Mark Stevens, All rights reserved.
All brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations.