DUI Per Se – DUI – DWAI – Weaving / People of State of Colorado v. S.G.
.194 Breath DUI Per Se, DUI, DWAI, Weaving NOT GUILTY on all counts. My first trial in CO and boy was it interesting. Local counsel came down with Covid on Monday and the next trial date wasn’t until November. Nothing to it, but to do it! Flew into Hayden and made it to Craig, CO (pop 13k) to try this case with 4 charges at 10pm Tuesday night. Amanda Culbertson flew with me and was a real trooper and brought science that this county had never seen.
Client was pulled over for weaving on a two lane mountain road while pulling a full loaded trailer. Yet video only showed him barely touching the lines. He admitted to having 2 beers at lunch 3 hours ago and looked great on video. Then blows a ridiculous .194. The lab gave us very little discovery so, we couldn’t really audit the machine. We caught a 20 min observation violation but, CO doesn’t have a similar TX 38.23 exclusionary rule so the result still comes in. Whatever the issue was, the result did not add up to what we saw on video.
Voir dire was done with no juror forms, rather the first 12 just answered the questions on the board one by one as the mic was passed around. They allow the breath test in to evidence with the Trooper just swearing he did everything correct. He was a highly decorated SFST instructor, DRE and 9000 operator. He even got the MADD award in 2021. But man was he upset after cross exam. He sat through the whole trial and waited for the verdict. I thought he was going to follow us out of town, but he stormed off in the other direction.
Amanda was instrumental in catching the Trooper lying on his 20 minute deprivation period and broke down the video minute by minute and was able to explain all the sounds on video and how it correlated to what the operator was doing on the 9000. I wove a disconnect defense from the beginning and closed it out with a lot of emotion.
The jurors were all very attentive and happy to be there. Many love crime novels and watched all the crime shows. They laughed, learned and gave their hearts and time to this case. Thank you to that jury for remaining true to their doubts and not blindly believing some ridiculous number. I know they will remember this verdict for the rest of their lives and be proud of the day they gave our client his freedom and good name back.
Just as I was telling the Judge I had to leave and local counsel would zoom in for the verdict. They dinged that they had a verdict. Received the verdict and my client was shaking and crying. Culbertson and I took a few photos and made it to the last flight with 14 minutes to spare.
Judge Schneider ran a very fair and efficient trial and was very patient with me figuring out the minute differences between CO and TX law and trial issues. DA was pleasant to deal with. And the Trooper…. Same thing, different state.
Thanks to my wife and associates for holding down the Houston office and letting me spread my wings. Thanks to my office for always having the file well prepared and making my life easier.
When we drove up Wednesday morning and I saw a totem pole out front of the court, I knew it was a good omen. Thanks to God for lining it all up.
