Tough Times Call For Tough Representation

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DRE Not a Happy Guy

On Behalf of | Sep 24, 2010 | DUI |

I won a Driving Under the Influence of Xanex this week.  It had been continued from last month where I had a lot of fun cross-examing the Drug Recognition “Expert.”  The witness has been an “expert” since 1993, and this was the first time he ever testified.  People just give up on these cases.  He is also an Instructor on SFSTS.  Well he did the fields incorrectly, and my client did not have 6/7 of the 10 “symptoms” of Xanex intoxication.  The seventh was normal pupil size so I guess if you are not under the influence you still have normal pupil size.   When I showed him the NHTSA manuals that impeached him, he was not very happy. I had seen him at lunch before cross-examination and kidded him that I wanted him to eat carefully, because if he got sick during cross-examination I did not want him to blame it on the food.  We even gave him and the blood witness our table.  All of it very funny.  Near the end of cross, I accused him of backing into the conclusion since she admitted she took Xanex the night before.  By then I had gotten him so angry that he started yelling at me to ask my client how he tried to help her. It was hilarious. The case took a twisted  turn when I showed the charging document was bad, so that at the end of the State’s case, the case got tossed.  I would have loved a NG on the “expert’s” conclusion.  I hope I get another case with him because he took this personally.  When we left the court last month he was sitting in the hallway and was anything but happy.  Just as I told him it was not his job to ask questions, it is not my job to make him happy.