The Assumption of Guilt

One would hope in the land of the free that produced rules of law that allow for the presumption of innocence that law enforcement would do its part to uphold that standard. Yet time and time again those presumptions are falling to the drunk driving exception.

I recently had a client who while avoiding a deer in Western Wisconsin rolled his car over in a horrific accident that totaled his car. By the time the deputy had arrived my client had already extricated himself from the vehicle and was laying in the cornfield.

He was surrounded by first responders, who in rural townships frequently hang out at the bar in between calls. The deputy alleged that my client smelled of alcohol. His immediate assumption was that alcohol was the major factor in this accident and that my client was an irresponsible drinker who had a serious alcohol problem.

In that vein, the deputy arrested my client with little evidence of intoxication and subjected him to a chemical test to determine his level of intoxication that if my client did not submit to would land him with another charge.

I can only imagine after having rolled my vehicle and experiencing one of the most traumatic moments in my life how difficult it would be to have to deal with law enforcement accusing me of a crime at the same time.

Indeed my client ended up getting charged with drunk driving. We appeared in court and won the motion to dismiss based on the fact that the officer did not have probable cause to arrest my client for drunk driving. The district attorney was very upset with the judge's ruling and appealed his decision to the court of appeals.

Just yesterday my client was vindicated in this long and costly struggle. It is amazing to me the someone can be exposed to this kind of drawn out litigation for having a drink and swerving to avoid a deer on a country road.

I agree that drunk driving is dangerous and I firmly believe that anyone who makes an irresponsible decision to get behind the wheel of a car after having too much to drink should be punished. But being assumed to be irresponsible is just kicking someone while he is down in a situation like this where clearly a good man was very lucky and happy to be alive and unhurt.

Thank goodness justice did him right.

TJPM ESQ

T.J. Perlick-Molinari, Birdsall Law Offices, S.C.
135 W. Wells St., Ste 214, Milwaukee, WI 53203
414.831.5465 - www.birdsall-law.com