The DUI Breath Sampling Process. How The Machine "Looks" at the What A Person is Blowing Into the Breath Machine Under the protocol for the administration of a breath test in South Carolina, after a twenty minute "observation period" to allow any residual mouth alcohol to evaporate through normal respiration, a 120 second period is [...]
1. Criminal and DUI Courtroom Experience What you don't know can hurt you! The legal market is flooded nowadays. The job market is tough for young, new lawyers. Some are forced to take on cases they don't have much experience in. I can't say that I blame them, and, the rules of professional responsibility allow [...]
Do DUI Roadside Videos Accurately Depict What is Reported? Here is the long roadside DUI arrest video filmed when the secretary was stopped. When arrested for DUI, a roadside video MUST be made by the officer. DUI Case Video Issues What are the road conditions here? Was that the best area to give the field [...]
One very important aspect of DUI and DUAC cases in South Carolina, or anywhere for that matter, is what the “legal limit” of alcohol even is!! It may seem confusing, but in SC thinking of DUI’s and DUAC’s in terms of violating the “legal limit” is wrong. But how can this be? When we watch [...]
Texting and Driving in Charleston SC - The New Law. Get Ready for Confusion Our mandatory seat belt law was introduced slowly to the public as a “secondary” offense-that is, an officer was required to detect some other traffic violation authorizing a traffic stop before he or she could write a seat belt ticket. Not [...]
I was recently invited to join the American College of Board Certified Attorneys. American College of Board Certified Attorneys (ACBCA) is a professional organization for attorneys who have been board certified by a recognized accrediting organization. The ACBCA supports activities to identify and recognize those attorneys who have met or exceeded rigorous certification standards relating [...]
Occasionally, I see something in the news that compels me, as a citizen of this great state and as a Charleston criminal defense lawyer, to blog about-immediately. I just read an article you should read. There is a contingent of opinion these days that no one has any privacy anymore. While that may very well [...]
SLED, THE DUI DATABASE and the DUI LAWYER? SLED has reported that the computer server securely storing all breath test and breath test site video footage data was hit by lightning, possibly last Friday. This news is critical information for an experienced South Carolina DUI and criminal defense lawyer. After outlining why this issue [...]
[divider_line] From .08 to .05 - should the DUI inference level be lowered? Currently under South Carolina DUI law, a breath device reading of .08 of one percent creates an "inference" that a driver's mental faculties to drive are impaired from the ingestion of alcohol. This inference level has changed over the years. When I [...]
I Am Always Happy to Answer DUI and Criminal Law Questions for the Media. As a lawyer handling DUI and Criminal Defense Cases in South Carolina for over thirty years, I had a treat today when Channel 5 WCSC reporter Harv Jacobs came to my office to interview me. Harv sought my opinion [...]
