In the recently decided case of Commonwealth v. Beltrandi, the Massachusetts Appellate Court has held that when there are two people in a car, the jury may infer whom the driver of the vehicle is when presented with circumstantial evidence. In the case of Beltrandi, the defendant was sitting in…
Articles Posted in DUI Laws and Court Cases
Massachusetts SJC to consider whether anonymous 911 call justifies a seizure under Article 14
Many OUI stops originate from a report of someone on the road claiming that another driver is driving erratically. In many cases, the officer will follow the motorist and make independent observations justifying the stop. In some cases the stop may be solely the result of the 911 caller. The…
Massachusetts SJC holds that a CWOF on an OUI counts as a conviction for CDL license holders
In a recent Massachusetts Supreme Court decision, Alfred Tirado v. Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bonds, the Court held that a continuance without a finding (CWOF) is a conviction funder G.L. c. 90F, section 1, which governs the licensure of commercial drivers. The decision essentially means…
Reasonable doubt in a Massachusetts criminal trial defined by the SJC
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has just issued a decision establishing a single definition of reasonable doubt, the standard by which jurors are to find the defendant guilty of a crime. The decision, published and released under the case heading of Commonwealth v. Gerald Russell, marks a significant effort to…
Time lapse and admissibility of breath test evidence in DUI trial
The Massachusetts Appeals Court addressed the issue of proving a motorist has a blood alcohol content over .08 under the per se law when there is a substantial time lapse between the time of the breath test and driving observations. This issues frequently arises as one of the many defenses…
Meaning of Sixth Amendment right to prior opportunity for cross examination raised in Supreme Court petition in Berkman v. Indiana
For drunk driving defense lawyers in Massachusetts, the area of law that is most in flux and subject to changing court decisions is the Sixth Amendment Right of Confrontation. A recent case from Indiana addressed the meaning of a defense lawyer’s prior opportunity for cross examination that is required if…
United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in petition regarding how a defendant invokes right to remain silent
As an OUI Lawyer in Massachusetts, a common defense is to attempt to exclude statements from evidence based on the police department failing to provide an individual with their Miranda warnings. The United States Supreme Court denied review of a Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Deviney v. State, 112 So.…
Prior Opportunity for Cross Examination under the Sixth Amendment addressed in the case of Berkman v. Indiana
The case of Berkman v. Indiana raised an interesting issue under the Sixth Amendment regarding the meaning of a prior opportunity for cross examination. As a Massachusetts OUI Lawyer, Sixth Amendment case law will continue to shape how drunk driving and other criminal charges are defended in Massachusetts. The Indiana…
United States Supreme Court’s decision in Anonymous Tip case will have major impact in DUI cases across the country
The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases that will have a major impact on the prosecution of drunk driving cases in Massachusetts. On October 1, 2013, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of two California brothers who were charged with drug possession and…
Commonwealth v. Higgins holding that refusal of field sobriety tests can be used to establish probable cause
For one facing an OUI charge in Massachusetts, the first hearing will be an arraignment and then the next hearing will be a pretrial. This pretrial will be the defendants first opportunity to raise issues of evidence or even raise a motion to dismiss the charges. The purpose of this…