Attorney Jonathan Oates won his client’s charge of DUI 2nd today in the Arlington General District Court by taking the case to trial and suppressing the stop.
In every DUI case, one of the most fundamental issues is for the Commonwealth to establish that the officer had a good reason to pull someone over. This case involved a reported accident, and police arrived on the scene to investigate. Oates knew that one way of beating the case and avoiding a mandatory 10 days in jail was to challenge the reason for the stop. The prosecution insisted on a plea to the DUI, but Oates knew that the Commonwealth was missing a critical witness—the first officer to arrive on the scene.
Rather than accepting a guilty plea and conviction for the DUI, Oates fought the case at trial. He argued that the Commonwealth had not shown any evidence that his client was detained for a good reason. The judge agreed and dismissed the case.
“In fighting any DUI case, the prosecution must prove that there was a good reason for stopping a suspect. If the prosecution cannot prove that the officer had a good reason for detaining my client, then I will not take a plea. The judge followed the law today and I am happy for my client who avoided jail time and a DUI conviction.” – DUI attorney Jonathan Oates.