People v Michael Alvarez

Aug 11, 2011

OUTCOME: Dismissed

A client of mine was charged with a felony DWI and swore that he passed the field sobriety tests. The client's previous attorney had attempted to convince him to take a plea to the felony DWI with 5 ye ... ars probation. After being retained, the Police and District Attorney claimed that the video footage from the police car camera (which automatically starts taping when their lights/siren are activated) was unavailable. After fighting them tooth and nail for six months, including extensive motions practice, threatening sanctions, and threatening a civil rights lawsuit, they eventually handed over the video which showed my client not only walking in a perfectly straight line on a slanted sidewalk with no markings (the field test is supposed to be conducted on flat ground with clearly marked lines, but many police officers are rusty in their DWI procedures training), but revealed audio footage of one of the police officers speaking into a microphone he forgot to turn off saying "The kid passed the test, but we should arrest him anyway." Needless to say, the client was not convicted of a felony, and did not wind up on probation. A thorough investigation of the facts is key to being a good criminal defense attorney. You are always weakest in a criminal case on the first day, at your arraignment, when the only side of the story that is being told is what the police have to say. Negotiating at this point is almost always a mistake. Fight first, negotiate later if necessary.