Violation: DUI 2nd Offense
Result: Allowed to plea to DUI 1st
Additional Case Details: Client was charged with DUI 2nd Offense in Davidson County, Tennessee. This charge carries a minimum sentence of 45 days in jail and a 2 year driver’s license suspension. Complicating our case was that the client had received their DUI 1st conviction less that 24 months prior to the 2nd, a situation the court does not look kindly upon. The client was leaving a concert in downtown Nashville and was forced to stop due to foot traffic leaving the Eagles concert. He stopped his car under a red light as foot traffic from the concert was stopping traffic all over downtown Nashville, a situation of which the officer making the arrest took advantage of and questioned, tested and then arrested our client for DUI. The Defendant consented to a blood alcohol test, which revealed a blood alcohol content of .13, well over the legal limit. We filed a motion to suppress the stop of the Defendant’s vehicle as it should have been obvious to the officer he was required to stop in this place due to the foot traffic in the area and therefore the results of the illegal stop should have been suppressed. However, the motion faced opposition as the officer’s statement was correct that client was stopped under a red light.
The client was employed as an industrial engineer and could not afford to lose the trial, his license, or receive a 45 day jail sentence. As a result of our negotiations with the DA and the filing of the motion to suppress, the client accepted a plea to DUI 1st and included 5 days in jail. Our defense saved at least 40 days in jail and a full year of suspension of our client’s license. He received a restricted license allowing him to drive anywhere anytime during the one year suspension with an alcohol interlock device. End result, his job was saved.