Client was driving home after a Halloween Party and got stopped for speeding.  The Vienna Police Officer smelled alcohol and started his investigation.  As in most DUI cases he administered standard field sobriety tests.  These consisted of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One-Legged Stand Test.  From our perspective the client did not perform poorly on these tests.  However, the Officer offered a Preliminary Breath Test ("PBT") and the client blew 0.15 which is almost twice the legal limit.  The client was arrested for first offense DUI and reckless driving by speed.  They blew a .15 into the Intox EC/IR II (Breathalyzer) and was booked by the Magistrate for DUI and reckless driving by speed.

There were two problems in this case:  1) If client was convicted of the DUI he was facing a mandatory 5-day jail sentence by statute.  This means they have to serve the full 5 days by law; and 2) The client worked for a Government Agency and was suspended for these charges pending outcome of the case.  Unfortunately, after reviewing the the dashcam video and police report, there weren't a lot of defenses in this particular case.

We had our client do a lot of mitigation to prepare for his case.  Some cases don't have good legal defenses because the officer's investigation was done well (from their side).  Consequently, we have to prepare a mitigation package for the Town Attorney or Prosecutor.  Our client did over 100 hours of community service, pre-enollred in ASAP (Alcohol Safety Action Program), provided literature from his employer reflecting his suspension, and few other smaller items.

Upon going to court the first we do is speak to the officer because we like to get them onboard with what we're trying to accompish with the case.  While the Town Attorney or Prosecutor is not bound by anything we discuss with the officer it does help.  The officer was sympathetic to our client's circumstances which helped in our negotiations with the Town Attorney.  This allowed us achieve a good outcome involving a reduction of the DUI to reckless driving (with terms including probation), no jail, and dismissal of the reckless driving speed charge by agreement.  This helped our client avoid a DUI conviction and, in all likelihood, he anticipates being reinstated by his employer.  The client put a lot of work into his case so we were very happy to help them acheive this outcome.