Law Office of Glen W. Neeley

Top Utah DUI Attorney, Board Certified in DUI Defense by the National College of DUI Defense

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  • Officer Gets own DUI

     Florida Police Officer Charged With DUI

    The following article just goes to show that sometimes, even police officers make mistakes.  In Miami Beach, Florida, recently, two police officers were interacting with five women who were reportedly attending a bachelorette party. The police officers, who were in uniform at the time of the incident, were seen taking pictures with the women and drinking alcohol at a hotel club.

    Some of the women made statements to the effect that they did not know the two men were actual police officers because of their unprofessional behavior. One of the officers eventually left with one of the women and the two took a ride on an all-terrain vehicle along the beach. According to news reports, the man was speeding along the beach without the ATV lights on when he hit two people, a man and a woman, who had been taking a walk along the beach. Both individuals were hospitalized and required surgery to repair their injuries.

    The two police officers were fired from the police department and the former officer who crashed the ATV was charged with four felony counts of DUI and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury. He was later released on $30,000 dollars bail.

    We can see from this story that individuals of all positions and titles—even those called to protect our communities—can make mistakes. If you find yourself charged with a DUI, contact an experienced advocate to help you see the options you have available to you. Glen Neeley is a board-certified attorney who is dedicated to his clients’ success, and looks forward to working as your advocate.

    Source: http://www.duiattorney.com/news/7860-on-duty-miami-police-officer-charged-with-dui

  • DUI Runs in the Family?


     Mother and Daughter Charged With DUI within Minutes of Each Other

    Researchers have known for years that there is a link between alcoholism and a person’s genetics. In other words, a person’s genetics determine to some degree how likely they themselves are to be victims of alcoholism. For quite a few years, researchers have been doing studies trying to determine just how strong this link is.

    For example, a news report out of Idaho Falls, Idaho, recently, indicates that the link may actually be very strong. On the other hand, maybe it is just a coincidence that 28 year old Alisha Gardner and her mother, 51 year old Diana Gardner, were both arrested for DUI in separate incidents, on the same night, within one hour of each other.

    According to the news story, the younger Gardner was swerving in and out of her lane, posing a serious threat to other drivers and herself. Upon investigation, it was determined that her blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit. The elder Gardner then drove out to her daughter’s car. The police officer arresting Alisha Gardner smelled alcohol on Diana Gardner’s breath and arrested her as well.

    There are other possible causes for this serendipitous situation. For example, genetics may not have even been a factor in both mother and daughter choosing to drink and drive. It may be that both women share a gene that causes them to process alcohol similarly and therefore perform badly on breath tests.

    Whatever the case may be, if you are caught drinking and driving, you have a defense regardless of what the arresting officer may tell you, or even what a breath test says. Contact an experienced advocate to help you with your defense. Glen Neeley is a board-certified attorney who is dedicated to his clients’ success, and looks forward to working as your advocate.

    Source: http://www.losangelesduiattorneyblog.com/2011/07/pasadena_dui_arrest_propensity.html

  • Pennsylvania Man Faces DUI Charges in Fatal Crash

    45-year-old Matthew McNamara has been charged in connection with an accident that killed a woman and left her three children hurt in Caernarvon Township, Pennsylvania. McNamara is charged with driving without a license and homicide by vehicle, and faces charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, a felony, and two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, also a felony. He faces several other charges in relation to the accident as well. After a stint in Lancaster General, he was released to police to be charged, and is currently jailed at Lancaster County Prison on $100,000 bail.

    The accident, which occurred on Route 322 and Shady Lane, happened this past Wednesday right before 4 pm. According to officials at the scene, heavy entrapment was involved, with the route temporarily shut down due to helicopters called for assistance. McNamara had tried passing another car, causing him to crash head on into a Ford Focus, driven by Joseph Wesley. His passenger, 23-year-old Syherah Cerdan, was pronounced dead at the scene. Among the children injured were a four-year-old and a three-month-old baby, who both suffered minor injuries. The third child, an 11-year-old passenger, is currently at critical condition at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

    If you are caught in a similar situation, you do have an advocate. Contact an experienced advocate to help you see the options you have available to you. Glen Neeley is a board-certified attorney who has successfully won countless cases similar to this one for his clients, and looks forward to doing the same for you.

    Source: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/422062_DUI-charge-in-fatal-crash.html 

  • Utah DUI Defense: The Law and Practice

    Over the past year and a half, I have worked tireless on becoming an author.  So here it is released yesterday.  Over half the books in stock are gone.  In conjunction with AZ premier DUI Defense Attorney James Nesci and premier Utah DUI Defense Attorney Jason Schatz, 458 pages are done along with an extraordinary DVD that has all the Field Sobriety Test Manuals, DRE Manuals, and the studies that go behind the manuals. This book is more of a lawyers guide on how to represent citizens in DUI cases from the first contact through trial and appeal. It covers everything from driver’s license hearings, suppression hearings, and trial. It comes with example cross examinations and direct examinations. The hardest part of doing the book was in fact sudden law changes. The law changes were not too drastic this year, but there were some. I want to thank those who helped me with the book including my co-authors and UACDL members that provided input and research. If you are interested in the book, you can purchase it from Lawyers and Judges Publishing at this link.

  • DUI Checkpoint Under Scrutiny

     A controversial DUI checkpoint for drivers in Escondido, CA is now the subject of a court case. According to driver Angel Navarrette and passenger Daniel Alfaro, a heated exchange took place at that checkpoint, resulting in their arrest for resisting a police officer. Dashcam video of the incident shows the police officer threatening to break the window when the driver apparently refuses to roll it down. The police officer told Navarrette he would be arrested, but apparently did not tell him why. Attorneys for the two asked the court to suppress all evidence, claiming that their clients’ fourth amendment rights were violated when the officer broke the vehicle window.

    According to Isaac Blumberg, the attorney for Alfaro, the police department of Escondido does not follow proper procedures when checking drivers at the town’s checkpoints. A retired police officer who saw the video suggested that the charges should be dropped. As he told a news reporter, no law exists stating a driver has to roll the window all the way down for a police officer.

    The Escondido Police Department has been checking drivers for possible DUI’s since 2004. Critics of the procedure claim that the checks are also a way to check for illegal immigrants, since drivers’ licenses are checked as well. According to city officials and those in the department, the checks have led to fewer DUI crashes and hit-and-run incidents. The Police Department did not provide any comments regarding this particular case or the video.

    If you are caught in a similar situation and feel you may have been treated unfairly by a police officer, you do have an advocate. Contact an experienced advocate to help you see the options you have available to you. Glen Neeley is a board-certified attorney who has successfully won countless cases similar to this one for his clients, and looks forward to doing the same for you.

    Source: http://www.10news.com/news/28489369/detail.html

  • Fourth of July Utah DUI Round Up

     Fourth of July, Independence Day, is a DUI Defense Attorney’s busy time of the years.  Statewide law enforcement will be out looking to accuse citizens of DUI.  So as a reminder, first and foremost, do not drink then drive.  As an attorney in Utah, my advise to anyone who drinks or uses prescription medications, do not get behind the wheel of a car.  The risk is too great.  It is my opinion, an officers take exception to this opinion, that if an officer smells alcohol, you will be arrested for DUI.  Then you will be defending the accusation of DUI.  If you are pulled over by an officer remember these steps:

    1.  Be polite, but don’t let the officer intimidate you.

    2.  Do not answer any questions other than your name and essential information.

    3.  Exercise your right to remain silent.

    4.  Politely tell the officer you will not be taking any field sobriety tests, if asked.

    5.  Request a lawyer several times.

    6.  If you refuse a chemical test, your license can be suspended for up to 3 years.

    7.  Do not believe that you can prove to the officer that you are sober.

    8.  Do not believe that you can talk your way out of a DUI.

    9.  If arrested, contact a DUI Defense attorney as soon as you are able.

    10.  Remember, you only have 10 days after an arrest to request a drivers license hearing.

    With these steps in mind, have a safe weekend.  Zions and other places are publicizing that if you drink and drive, the police will be there to get you.  This article from the Salt Lake Tribune talks more about it.

  • Women charged with alcohol offense when she did the right thing, Not Drive!

     A woman in Indiana was responsible enough to request a ride from a sober driver after drinking at a party recently, and was arrested for being drunk in a vehicle anyway. The woman was at a friend’s house and drank two tall beers. When one of her friends who had not been drinking asked the woman to give him a ride to another friend’s house, she refused, on the grounds that she had been drinking, but the sober friend could drive both of them over to the other friend’s house.

    Although the situation appears to be completely within the confines of the law, while en route to the other friend’s house, the driver was pulled over because the lights on his license plate were out. The police officer, upon seeing the slightly inebriated woman in the passenger’s side of the vehicle, arrested her for public intoxication, a Class B Misdemeanor in the State of Indiana.

    The Supreme Court of Indiana recently determined that for purposes of the State statute regarding public intoxication, a person’s vehicle when stopped by a police officer does in fact qualify as a place of public resort. The woman’s attorney argues that she was adhering to the publicly accepted policy of refusing to drink and drive, and that to arrest this or any other person for being in a vehicle while intoxicated, even if not driving, violates her right to consume alcohol at all.

    The judge dissented and determined that the woman should not suffer criminal penalty for the alleged “crime” for which she was arrested. If you are arrested for a crime, even for something that makes little to no sense like the woman in this article, contact an experienced advocate to help you see the options you have available to you. Glen Neeley is a Board Certified DUI Defense Attorney who has successfully won countless cases similar to this one for his clients, and looks forward to doing the same for you.

    Source: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/

     

  • Supreme Court Rules That Those Who Administer Tests Must Be the Ones to Testify

    The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided on a landmark ruling that has significant bearing on all criminal defense cases across the United States. The ruling states that when trying to prove a criminal fact, the individual who performed the test to determine the fact must also be the one to testify in Court, and other experts or substitutes may not be used. This ruling also applies to law enforcement officers who use radar guns to determine a driver’s speed.

    For example, what this means in a DUI test is that if a person arrested for suspicion of DUI fails a breathalyzer test, the police officer who administered the breathalyzer must be the one to testify in Court. This new ruling would exclude anyone else from testifying in court on the matter, whether it is a colleague, a witness to the test administration, or any other individual.

    According to the Sixth Amendment, a person has the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The Supreme Court interpreted this clause to mean that while testimonies of witnesses received outside the courtroom may be used during criminal proceedings, actual evidence such as lab reports and breathalyzer results, as used in the example above, must be presented by the person who administered the test in the first place. The only exception to this rule is if both the prosecution and the defense agree beforehand to allow some other person to testify in place of the test administrator.

    Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/23/Supreme-Court-Test-operator-must-testify-at-trial/UPI-26861308843865/#ixzz1QEvpAa4m

  • Woman Sentenced To Three Years in Prison for Fatal DUI Accident

     Mykhaylo Meshko was a 50-year-old immigrant from Russia, who was killed in Hanover Township, Illinois, on his drive home from work at a local bakery. Meshko was yet another unfortunate victim of a drunk driving accident that landed the driver, Kirra McPeek anywhere from three to six years in prison.

    According to news reports, McPeek was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident, a head-on collision with Meshko that killed him instantly and injured the one other passenger in the vehicle. McPeek was apparently just coming from a bar, where she had over ten drinks, about one third of a mile from the crime scene.

    During the court proceedings, McPeek’s defense attorney noted that his client had never been in trouble before. She was an all-around good person, had gainful employment, and was the caretaker for her elderly grandmother. She accepted full responsibility for the accident, even enrolling in counseling immediately following the accident. News reports state that McPeek cried openly and expressed remorse to the widow of her innocent victim.

    This story goes to show that even good people can make mistakes. Do not allow yourself fall prey to a situation similar to McPeek’s by driving drunk. However, if you are arrested for DUI, seek out an experienced attorney to serve as your advocate. Contact experienced, Board Certified DUI attorney Glen Neeley for your free DUI case evaluation today.

    Source: http://citizensvoice.com/news/w-b-woman-gets-three-to-six-years-for-fatal-dui-accident-1.1163116?localLinksEnabled=false#ixzz1PXrYgeEl

  • Kansas DUI Case Moves to the Supreme Court

    A man in Kansas was acquitted in his DUI case recently, despite his breath being measured at .080 grams, the legal limit in the United States. The man’s attorney argued during his driver’s license hearing that a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .080 was not enough evidence on its own to find his client guilty of DUI beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Furthermore, the attorney was able to show that the Intoxilyzer 5000 had shown inconsistencies in recent tests. The Assistant District Attorney retorted that a BAC level of .08 was in clear violation of federal DUI law and pushed for conviction. The District Court Judge apparently agreed with the attorney and ultimately granted his Motion to Acquit.

    The man was initially pulled over for weaving in and out of his lane of traffic. Upon his arrest, the man was taken to the county jail where he submitted to a breath test. Upon his acquittal, the man plead guilty to the lesser charge of failure to maintain a lane. The case is set to go to Supreme Court in the next couple of weeks.

    If you have been charged with DUI or a similar crime, know that you have options for fighting your case. The key is to have an experienced attorney, like the man in this article had, review your case and serve as your advocate. If you have been charged with DUI, contact experienced, board-certified DUI attorney Glen Neeley for your free DUI case evaluation today.

    Source: http://www.onlineattorneys4u.com/2009/10/kansas-dui-case-going-to-supreme-court/