Articles Posted in DUI Laws and Court Cases

As a Massachusetts DUI attorney, the issue of police officers unlawfully obtaining blood samples for persons suspected of driving intoxicated often comes up during defense. The act of not obtaining a warrant prior to obtaining a blood sample in routine DUI stops is a direct violation of the 4th amendment.…

In response to the Boston Globe Special Report on OUI bench trials in Massachusetts, the Globe reported that prosecutors are seeking legislation requiring prosecutors to consent to a bench trial. Assuming this report is accurate, this legislation would have to apply to every type of criminal case as legislation relating…

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided the case of Commonwealth v. Zoanne Zeininger which addressed the issue of whether the Sixth Amendment requires the Commonwealth to present the live testimony of a witness from the Office of Alcohol Testing in order to admit breathalyzer test results at a Massachusetts DUI…

Bullcoming v. New Mexico raises a significant issue under the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause regarding scientific and blood test evidence in Massachusetts drunk driving cases with breathalyzer or blood test results. The State of New Mexico attempted to present evidence to prove the defendant’s blood alcohol content through a surrogate…

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments on February 7, 2011 in the case of Commonwealth v. Zeininger, which was an appeal of a drunk driving conviction out of the Greenfield District Court. The defendants in the case filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, which the…

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles suspended the Massachusetts license of a resident based on a DUI conviction that occurred in Colorado. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 22, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles can suspend the Massachusetts license of a resident for a conviction in another state…

Preliminary breathalyzer test result, PBT, are inadmissible to prove a DUI offense in Massachusetts. Accordingly, if you failed a portable breathalyzer test the Commonwealth cannot offer that evidence to the jury. A case from Wisconsin raised an interesting issue of whether a defendant can offer preliminary breathalyzer test results to…

The admissibility of breathalyzer evidence in Massachusetts may be impacted by a confrontation clause case from Virginia that the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear for the upcoming term. Commonwealth v. Briscoe. The appeal in Briscoe concerns several cases that were consolidated and all raise the same issue of…