DCDUIBLOG.COM Begins.
DCDUIBLOG.COM…is now officially open.
DCDUIBLOG.COM is a forum for attorneys who represent clients in the Traffic Branch of the Criminal Division of D.C. Superior Court. To launch this blog, I will post several articles on current issues facing attorneys who defend clients accused of drunk driving in D.C. Superior Court. My hope is that these articles will spark a debate that will raise the bar for attorneys representing clients in Washington, D.C.
For some time now, I have noticed deterioration in the quality of representation accorded to defendants in Washington, D.C. This may be a result of a change in how court-appointed traffic attorneys are compensated. With the introduction of a flat fee system, defense attorneys were challenged with the difficult decisions of defending their clients’ rights at a financial loss or reaping the windfall of an early disposition without fully exploring, demanding and protecting their clients’ rights. It is difficult to elect to take that Constructive Possession Open Container case to trial (it typically takes at least four court dates to get to trial) when the lawyer will get the same $260.00 if he persuades the client to plea on the first court date…thereby saving hours, possibly days, of work. As defense attorneys, we must remember that it is our duty to assure that individuals’ rights are protected and guaranteed. When the defense bar's level of representation decreases there is a corresponding deterioration in the quality of law enforcement. When the quality of law enforcement deteriorates, innocent people go to jail, and this is intolerable.
Over the last few years, impaired driving defense has become increasingly complex in Washington, D.C. The Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) has taken a hard line approach in many cases; increasingly, clients are facing mandatory jail time. OAG’s recent hard-line-mandatory-jail-time policy fails to recognize many shortfalls within its own office and the many branches of law enforcement in the nation's capital. For at least a year now, OAG has known that its PD 809 contains false representations regarding the breath testing machines. Nevertheless, they continue to introduce the document as evidence in their drunk-driving cases without disclosing the defects in the document.
It is unconscionable to demand that defendants serve mandatory jail time based on a breath test when not every step has been taken to ensure that the quality assurance aspects of the breath-testing program work. Having recently been granted access to the calibration logs for a few of the Intoxilyzer 5000 EN machines used by the Metropolitan Police (“MPD”), I have discovered that many machines are being certified as “calibrated”, when in fact many of their recorded readings do not fall within the manufacturer's specifications. Furthermore, OAG and MPD have done little to ensure that "Alcohol Certified Officers" maintain a current and working understanding of the principles of the impaired driver detection process. During a recent SFST cross-examination of an “alcohol ‘certified’ officer”, I happened to look over at the assistant attorney general, who was prosecuting the case. She had her head between her hands and was staring down at the table. After the “not guilty” verdict was announced, we walked out of the courtroom together, and she mumbled "that officer didn't know what she was doing." When the AAG articulates such an observation, why didn't she move to dismiss the case once she recognized that her officer and witness “didn't know what she was doing"? Could it have something to do with the fact that funding from federal grants is dependent on alcohol convictions? Defense attorneys must step up to the plate to ensure justice for all. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." If you sleep on your rights, you lose them. It’s time for the defense community to wake up and smell the coffee…let’s hope it’s not too late to regain what we have already lost.
I hope the articles will provide a starting point for discussion and comments. After the initial set of articles is published, I will try to post a new article regularly. Lively discussion and debate are dependant on your thoughts, reactions, ideas and anecdotes. I also encourage you to post your own articles to expand the learning opportunities and stimulate the process. Every now and then, I will include an article on news or developments occurring outside the district. The first one will be on why perhaps we don't have it so bad after all.