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…
The second big change in Maine DUI laws was changing when an OUI becomes a felony. It used to be that a fourth DUI in ten years was a felony. Now a third offense in ten years is a felony. The maximum penalty jumps from 364 days in jail and…