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CASE EXAMPLE: JANUARY 8, 2009

UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF ALCOHOL BY A MINOR CHARGE DROPPED AFTER ATTORNEY STEVENS FILES MOTION TO SUPPRESS ROADBLOCK EVIDENCE!

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CASE EXAMPLE: The police built a roadblock on a busy street to try and catch drunk drivers.  The problem was that even though they stopped a couple of hundred citizens, they did not find any drunk drivers.  One passenger in a car though got arrested for “unlawful possession of alcohol or intoxication by a minor”, which is a violation of New Hampshire law RSA 179:10.  The passenger hired Attorney Stevens to fight the charge. 

READ ON TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED…

Case Dropped January 8, 2009

Sponsored by ByeByeDWI.com

Please note-this is an example of the disposition of a recent New Hampshire DWI case. It is by no means a guarantee of any particular result in any other case.

BASIC FACTS: Police erected a roadblock in the middle of a busy street on a summer weekend night, a common time for blocking roads throughout New Hampshire.  As drivers approached they saw a sea of flashing blue lights, police cars and uniformed police officers.  Some of the drivers were stopped at random, for no reason at all. 

As drivers approached the platoon of police officers in the roadblock they were directed to pull into a “screening bay” where they were ordered to produce their identity papers and interrogated about drinking.  Some drivers were ordered to get out of their vehicles and ordered through a battery of roadside gymnastics known as “field sobriety tests”.  The drivers were directed to o the “follow the pen” exercise, walk down a line in heel to toe fashion with their arms by their sides, and to stand on one leg for half a minute.  Despite all this none of the hundreds of citizens seized in this DWI roadblock were actually DWI.

A passenger in one of the vehicles though got arrested for “unlawful possession of alcohol or intoxication by a minor”, which is a violation of New Hampshire law RSA 179:10. The police ordered him out of the car he was riding in and got him to blow into a little hand-held, battery operated breath testing gadget known as a “preliminary breath tester” or “PBT”.  The passenger allegedly blew over a .02, the magic number for arresting a person under the age of 21.

DEFENSE:    Attorney Stevens filed motions to suppress all the evidence in these cases based on the illegality of the police roadblocks.  The motions to suppress were based on four grounds: that the police had failed to comply with the New Hampshire Roadblock statute, that the state had failed to follow its own guidelines regarding the operation of DWI road blocks, and that the roadblock violated the drivers’ state and federal constitutional rights to be free from illegal seizures and searches.  He also challenged the “results” of the PBT gadget.

RESULT:      After filing his motions, the state dropped the charge against this citizen!

The passenger’s charge for unlawful intoxication was dropped!!!

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Below is the present version of New Hampshire’s “Unlawful Possession and Intoxication” Statute:

RSA 179:10  (2008)

179:10  Unlawful Possession and Intoxication.

 I. Except as provided in RSA 179:23, any person under the age of 21 years who has in his or her possession any liquor or alcoholic beverage, or who is intoxicated by consumption of an alcoholic beverage, shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined a minimum of $300. Any second and subsequent offense shall be fined at least $600. For purposes of this section, alcohol concentration as defined in RSA 259:3-b of .02 or more shall be prima facie evidence of intoxication. No portion of this mandatory minimum fine shall be waived, continued for sentencing, or suspended by the court. In addition to the penalties provided in this section, the court may, in its discretion, impose further penalties authorized by RSA 263:56-b.   [Para. I as effective one day after the passage of the state operating budget for the biennium ending June 30, 2009; see also Para. I set out above]

I. Except as provided in RSA 179:23, any person under the age of 21 years who has in his or her possession any liquor or alcoholic beverage, or who is intoxicated by consumption of an alcoholic beverage, shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined a minimum of $250. Any second and subsequent offense shall be fined at least $500. For purposes of this section, alcohol concentration as defined in RSA 259:3-b of .02 or more shall be prima facie evidence of intoxication. No portion of this mandatory minimum fine shall be waived, continued for sentencing, or suspended by the court. In addition to the penalties provided in this section, the court may, in its discretion, impose further penalties authorized by RSA 263:56-b.

II. Except for persons convicted on the basis of intoxication, any person under the age of 21 years convicted of unlawful possession of liquor or beverage shall forfeit the same, and it shall be disposed of as the court directs. The proceeds, if any, shall be paid into the treasury of the county in which the proceedings were determined.

HISTORY: 1990, 255:1, eff. July 1, 1990. 1998, 167:8, eff. July 1, 1998. 2002, 256:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2003. 2005, 177:47, eff. July 1, 2005. 2006, 259:1 [see effective date note below].

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Attorney Stevens thanks God for this successful defense!!!

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

II Timothy 4:7

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Information in this column should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Mark Stevens Law Office, nor any attorney associated with the Mark Stevens Law Office. The information contained herein is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts and circumstances. Please bear in mind that laws change frequently. We will make an effort to update the information on a regular basis, but are under no obligation to do so. No part of this document, nor any information contained in this website, may be disseminated without this paragraph. This may be considered legal advertising.