This case started like many DUI or OUI cases in Maine. My client was driving home from a bar at around midnight. A Yarmouth, Maine Police officer saw his car driving too slow, watched the vehicle touch the yellow center line several times and noticed a brake light out. The officer stopped the car and had the driver perform field sobriety tests. The traffic stop and roadside tests were recorded on video. The officer saw clues of impairment on the tests and he arrested my client for OUI. The driver was taken to the station to do a breath test on an intoxilyzer 8000. His breath alcohol level tested at .20; the legal limit is .08. Because of the high test, a 2 day jail sentence was mandatory. We had a trial and the jury returned a not guilty verdict. [Read more…]
Not Guilty Verdicts and other Wins
The best part of being a Criminal Defense Attorney in Maine, is having the opportunity to try cases and win. Maine Juries are pretty reasonable people. Sometimes, when the prosecutor and judge don't see it my way, the only alternative is to go to trial. Here are a few of those stories.
Driving With a Suspended License or OAS: Not Guilty Verdict
Under Maine law, driving with a suspended license is called Operating After Suspension or OAS. Many people think that these crimes are easy to prove and that it’s not worth hiring a lawyer for a suspended license case. I have handled hundreds of OAS cases and there are often defenses. Here’s the story of one case where my client was charged with driving on a suspended license and a bail violation. The prosecutor refused to dismiss and my client refused to plead guilty. If he was convicted, the judge had said he would send him to jail and, since he had a lengthy driving history, the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles would have revoked his license for three years as a habitual offender. We had a trial and the jury found my client not guilty. [Read more…]
Not guilty: Aggravated Criminal Trespass, Assault, Threatening
Dru Bloomfield via flickr
This is one of the strangest cases I’ve ever tried. My client faced charges of felony aggravated criminal trespass, assault and criminal threatening. The charges stemmed from a dispute with a neighbor and while the facts were odd, the victim seemed credible. My client maintained that he was not guilty and insisted on a trial. He was much more confident than me. In the end, the jury found him not guilty on all counts. [Read more…]
Not Guilty: Assault On an Officer, Refusing to Submit to Arrest
HelenCobain via flickr
When an arrest goes wrong, the defendant is sometimes charged with assault on an officer and refusing to submit to arrest. These charges can be more serious than the original crimes of arrest. In Maine, assault on an officer is a felony and the maximum prison sentence is 5 years. In this case, my client was arrested for misdemeanor criminal threatening. When the police used unnecessary force, an officer ended up with a cut on his finger. My client ended up with a felony assault charge. The jury returned a not guilty verdict. [Read more…]
Not Guilty Verdict: Felony Domestic Violence Terrorizing
Domestic violence terrorizing charges are taken very seriously in Maine. In this case, the District Attorney was demanding prison time, the victim cooperated with the prosecution and was willing to testify at trial. My client maintained his innocence and refused to plead guilty. We had a jury trial in York County Superior Court in Alfred, Maine and got a not guilty verdict. [Read more…]
