DUI And The Sixth Amendment: Lab Scientist Who Signed Report Must Testify, Not Colleague.
The Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause gives the accused in all criminal prosecutions, the right, to be confronted with the witnesses against him. For anyone practicing in the area of DUI and drunk driving, the United States Supreme Court in Bullcoming v. New Mexico, (Slip opinion, June 2011), addressed the issue of “whether the Confrontation Clause [...]
What Can A Prosecutor Say About You In A DUI Trial?
Within the context of DUI, the Nevada Supreme Court defines a prosecutor’s statements as prosecutorial misconduct if those statements, “so infected the proceedings with unfairness as to result in a denial of due process.” To assist with the analysis, the Court identified four factors it will look at: 1) a prosecutor may not vouch for [...]
Pending Or Unresolved DUI Charges
In some cases, a prosecutor may file a DUI complaint that includes not only evidence of prior DUIs (relevant to determining the proper level of DUI offense) but also pending DUI charges. Evidence of pending or unresolved DUIs is inadmissible under NRS 48.045(2) which expressly prohibits evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts to prove [...]
Personal Websites As DUI Sentencing Enhancement Tools
Defense attorneys should strongly consider urging their clients to remove any personal pages after a DUI arrest. Personal Websites like Facebook and MySpace are becoming increasingly problematic for criminal defendants because prosecutors are now using them as sources of photos and comments during the penalty phase for DUI. In one case, a young woman from [...]
