DWI

Over the past 13 years, Dan has dedicated a majority of his time, as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, to driving while intoxicated cases.  He has conducted 14 DWI jury trials, with six jury trials occurring in the past two years.

 

Dan has authored 9 DWI appellate briefs, covering a wide range of issues that are unique to DWI charges.

 

Successfully tackling suppression issues (i.e, whether certain evidence is admissible at trial) is paramount to winning a DWI case.  Dan has conducted more than 100 suppression hearings.  Numerous cases have been dismissed in this fashion.

 

Non-lawyers are permitted to be judges in Town/Village courts across New York State.  In rural areas, they often hear criminal cases once a month.  Their criminal case volume is low.  Each year, a small fraction of these cases reaches a pre-trial suppression hearing.  A Town Court Judge may go many years without conducting a single jury trial.  Furthermore, these non-lawyer judges typically side with the prosecutor when faced with closely contested legal issues.  What does all this mean for your case?

 

A litigated DWI case (i.e. motions, hearings, and jury trial) are ripe for erroneous determinations made in favor of the prosecutor.

 

Under New York Law, you have an absolute right to appeal the outcome of your case to a higher court.  An appeal, however, involves highly technical legal rules.  For example, to raise a legal argument on appeal, the identical argument must be raised and preserved by the trial attorney in the court below.  Otherwise, the appellate court will generally refuse to hear your argument, even if it clearly has merit.

 

This makes it crucial to have an attorney who is both a trial attorney and an appellate attorney.  This hybrid attorney knows what it takes to win in the first instance; but never loses sight of the long game.  In other words, he creates a clear and sufficient record in the trial court, in the event a win relies on a successful appeal.

 

A trial attorney who drafts his own appellate briefs gives you a tremendous advantage in winning your case.  He is intimately familiar with the facts and legal issues at the trial level.  This hybrid attorney can draft an appeal efficiently and effectively.  Most trial attorneys do not draft their own appeals.

 

When speaking with an attorney during a DWI consultation, be sure to ask two crucial questions: (1) How many DWI jury trials have you conducted in the past two years? and (2) how many DWI appellate briefs have you personally authored?