Notable Victories

.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.

Big thank you to those jurors for staying true to their doubts and not being swayed by the client’s history.Client was 65 years old with significant medical issues that required lots of medication. She was not used to driving far and her flight got cancelled when she finally made the 2 hour drive to Grand Junction. She turned around and started the long drive back. Stopped for some Mexican food and had a Bloody Mary. As she pulled off to get gas later in the afternoon, she fell asleep at the gas station. Concerned citizens called a Trooper over. Trooper smelled alcohol, saw her bad parking job, and saw her record. Called for local PD. When local DeBeque PD showed up, Trooper told them: I’m pretty sure she’s pretty drunk. Starting the snowball. DeBeque PD put her through the SFSTs, which due to her age and medical conditions she performed poorly. Arrested for DUI alcohol 4th. Found her meds in her purse and then asked for blood. Went fishing in her blood and found Hydrocodone, Clonazepam, Valium and cocaine byproduct.  The Valium and cocaine were later determined to be from her mouth surgery earlier that week. BAC was .059. So under the legal limit, lots of medication, 3 priors, and a bad video means you gotta go to trial.

Luckily, the jury saw through it and realized the police should have done better. Client hired expert, David Keech, to explain what should have been done on the police investigation. And, client hired Amanda Culbertson to explain how all of the medication was below levels of quantitation and there is no magic formula or number that would equate to intoxication.

As always, had a great time trying this case with local counsel, Denton Walker. We had a good time bringing out the truth.  Feels great to give a lady her life back. For 448 days she has been proclaiming her innocence.

Judge was fair and professional. He used to be a real trial lawyer himself. DAs knew what they were doing and gave a great fight. In the end, there was just too much doubt in this case. The jury followed the law and returned a just verdict.  Last but not least, thanks to God for orchestrating it all.

NOT GUILTY!!! of Felony DUI-DWAI 4th offense/ Resisting Arrest/ and No Insurance. Big thank you to the courageous jurors. We were in Walden, CO (pop. 1500) going against the Sheriff of the town and the #2 Undersheriff. Our client was a blue collared worker with a past of 3 DUIs (95,02,06) and a felony in 03.  He took the stand and told the truth in the face of the most powerful officers in the town. The State offered him misdemeanor deals, he refused. I had an easy defense of intox after the time of driving but the client said that was not true because he was never intoxicated. 599 days he has been stating his innocence and risked guaranteed prison time if we lost.

Client was going to show his son a cabin they dreamed of having. They made a u-turn on a highway to go back and the intox son told his dad to back up too far. Truck got stuck on the soft shoulder.  So he backed it down the slope and off the hwy. Got a ride back to camp with his son. Intox son grabbed some guys and went back to pull it out. Some passerby calls 911 and says drunk people slid off the road. #1 and #2 sheriff show up and run the plates. Get son to take them back to Dad at camp. Dad is pissed and drinking a beer. He didn’t stand a chance. Arrested and the cops say he fought back. Police also plagiarized their reports and alleged he was so drunk he urinated himself in his truck. They found him “passed out” in bed in urine covered clothes and he could barely stand.

The DAs only put on #2 sheriff and son. They didn’t bring the 911 caller or the 2 other police witnesses.  Our client testified and also expert David Keech on how bad the police investigation was. I knew that the jurors would have a hard time finding him NG and living in the town with those authorities. So we agreed that officers had probable cause but the DAs didn’t prove their case with the limited witnesses and evidence and that’s not how you prosecute a felony.

It took a lot of courage for the jurors of this small town to basically disbelieve the highest officials of their town on what I would say is an extreme DUI (3 priors, wreck, urinated himself, passed out, fighting back).  Cops alleged all of that happened. Client testified none of that happened. He owned up to all of his priors but the rest was pure lies by the #1 and #2 sheriffs in town.

Big thank you to my local counsel, Denton Walker. Denton crushed the investigator. Battled the CO law and moved for dismissals at every turn for hiding and destroying evidence. We stayed in an AirBnB one house over from the #2 sheriff as we were basically calling him out for poor investigation and fabrication. Didn’t get a lot of sleep this week. Tons of stories. Courage and truth prevail!

Thanks to God for seating the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Thank you to my staff for having me ultra prepared. Thanks to my wife for hold down the fort and booking us an AirBnB next to the main witness (who probably wanted to kill me after my cross of him). Not even a deadbolt on the front door!  Judge was very complimentary afterwards. Thank you to that jury for remaining true to your doubts and following the law. #wefightgiants #TLFstrong

(A juror stopped us on our way out to thank us for calling out the police. Apparently this is a big issue in this town. She wanted our cards to keep fighting and calling them out. I feel like we may be back and make a great 80s movie out of it!)

The client was found Not Guilty by a jury of his peers for False Imprisonment and Criminal Mischief. The client used to work as the manager of Roxy’s Corner. He had an ex-girlfriend who would constantly drive by and harass him — so much so that he had to get a restraining order against her. Additionally, the owners of Roxy’s and Steeps had banned her and her friends from the property. She had just gotten a new car and thought he wouldn’t know. She and her friend said they were going to Steeps and couldn’t find parking, so they parked behind the car wash on Roxy’s property. As our client was taking out the trash, he saw them hiding in the corner. He went to grab his phone to call the police and record them. As she tried to drive away she hit him with her car, breaking her mirror. She then tried to reverse and hit him and hit the tree by the car wash. The client stood in front of the car and called the police. The female officer arrived first and talked to the ex-girlfriend who said our client just came out of nowhere and beat on their car, even though her own video showed him calmly standing in front of the car calling the cops.  The cops gave the ex-girlfriend a ticket for trespassing and arrested our client for False Imprisonment and Criminal Mischief. The Judge wouldn’t let us get into the other three times the ex-girlfriend was cited for Violating the Protective Order, but the jury was very smart and read between the lines. “I’m calling the cops this time” is what he says on the video. The jury knew this wasn’t her first time harassing him. Big thank you to the jury for seeing through the evidence that wasn’t allowed to come in and realizing the truth. This was a just verdict that gave this man his life and freedom back.