Today a Hennepin County Judge threw out a DWI case because our client’s constitutional rights had been violated.
Our client was charged with DWI after an officer in a dark unmarked SUV pulled up next to our client at an intersection with controlled traffic signals. The officer did not believe our client’s vehicle was up far enough to trigger the sensor of the traffic control light so he pulled up along side our client’s vehicle and asked her to roll down the window. The officer testified that our client had not violated any traffic laws. He told the judge that our client was “slow” to roll down her passenger window despite the fact it was the middle of the night and he was in a dark unmarked SUV. The officer told our client to move up and trigger the traffic control light. Our client said “okay.” The officer testified that our client slurred this two syllable word despite the fact the he was seated in his dark unmarked SUV and our client was in the driver’s seat of the car she was driving- in between both of them was a passenger in our client’s car. The officer then ordered our client to pull over to the side of the road and was ultimately arrested for DWI.
The judge did not buy the officer’s basis for the stop and threw the case out. Just another day at the office for the DWI GUYS. Congratulations to our client!
