So what does the Supreme Court’s decision in Bullcoming v. New Mexico mean for the country at large? The answer is that no longer can scientific evidence be introduced into a case as if it were non-testimonial evidence. Testing and subsequent analysis of forensic evidence, far from being rote, requires…
I cannot tell you the number of people I talk to who say, “Well, the breath test says I blew over .08, so there is nothing I can do, right?” Wrong! What most people do not understand is that breath tests do not measure your blood alcohol level. Breath tests…
The Supreme Court recently ruled in Bullcoming v. New Mexico in favor of the Petitioner. The details of this otherwise mundane DWI/DUI case are as follows: Bullcoming, when initially pulled over on the night of the bad incident, refused to take a breath alcohol test. As a result, a blood…
Many people do not realize that a DUI or other misdemeanor conviction in the United States can bar you from entering Canada. Folks who head to Canada on vacation are sometimes turned away at the border because a member the family has a DUI conviction. People on business trips, or…
It is always surprising that so many people are stopped by the police and arrested for DUI when the reason they were stopped in the first place had nothing to do with DUI. I think more DUI arrests result from vehicle defects then from weaving. The Fourth Amendment says that…
We had a rare win in a DUI case from the United States Supreme Court. Last week the Court decided that the Confrontation Clause of the Constitution really means what it says – that a witness against a criminal defendant must testify in open court and look the defendant in…
I posted a while ago about a new law the Aroostook County DA wanted to push through. There were four very bad things in the law. They wanted to make it illegal to drive if you were taking any prescription medication. Not just drugs that get you high, any prescription…
Last Friday Maine passed a law to ban texting while driving. The new law, which goes into effect on September 1, 2011, prohibits reading or manually composing any written electronic message while driving. The penalty is a $100 fine. It is not a crime for which jail can be imposed. …
Updated June 5, 2020|by Katherine M. Campbell and Vincent S. LoConte, Criminal Defense Lawyers with the Webb Law Firm in Southern Maine No concept in criminal law is more widely known than the obligation for police to read a person his or her right ONCE IN CUSTODY. Unfortunately, in the context of an…
New Year’s Eve is in two days. The radio and papers are full of stories of DUI checkpoints. If that doesn’t make you mad, you don’t understand DUI checkpoints. DUI checkpoints do not make us safer. Nationally, out of 1000 drivers stopped, only three are arrested for DUI. Police officers…