City v. Jones

The police report stated that the defendant was stopped for driving without headlights on a May evening when it was dark and rainy. Our research showed that the time of the stop was within 1/2 hour of the published sunset time and thus, headlights were not legally required. However, at the evidentiary hearing the officer opined that headlights were definitely necessary due to the heavy clouds, the time of day, the rain, and the visibility. Legal research prior to the evidentiary hearing revealed that headlights are required when,"due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of one thousand feet ahead." We argued that the prosecution had not established the necessary fact of lack of visibility at a distance of one thousand feet.
Result: Since the burden of establishing the legality of a detention is always on the prosecution, the stop of the vehicle was ruled to be unjustified.
Moral of the story: Attention to detail in a DUI defense can be the difference between winning or losing.