When investigating a person for suspected of operating under the influence of alcohol, Massachusetts Drunk Driving Laws require that a test of the suspect’s breath or blood to determine blood alcohol content must be done with the person’s consent in order for the results to be admissible at a defendant’s trial, red and yellow ones
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Massachusetts Statute Governing Suspension and Restoration of Driver’s License After Chemical Test Refusal
Legally, one doesn’t have a “right” to his/her driver’s license. In Massachusetts, a persons’s right to operate a motor vehicle is a privilege, and continued possession of this privilege is conditioned on obeying the legislature’s laws that are aimed at regulating the state’s roadways and keeping them safe. Because of this, under the Massachusetts statutory scheme,…
Field Sobriety Tests Not Admissible in Massachusetts OUI/DUI Marijuana Cases
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently considered whether police officers are permitted to testify concerning the administration of field sobriety tests (FST’s) where they suspect the driver is operating under the influence of marijuana. Unlike in cases involving alleged operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (OUI/DUI), police officers, the state’s…
Massachusetts District Attorneys Suspend Alcohol Breath Test Evidence in Drunk Driving Cases
District Attorneys across Massachusetts this week have suspended the use of Breath Alcohol Testing (BAT) evidence in drunk driving or Operating Under the Influence cases at trial or in plea negotiations. This action follows recent claims by defense attorneys that, in prior litigation challenging the reliability of the Alcotest 9510 BAT machine, prosecutors withheld key…
OUI/DUI Roadblock Held Constitutional Despite Deviations from Operational Plan
Massachusetts law permits police officers to conduct OUI/DUI roadblocks, or what is legally known as “field sobriety checkpoints.” For OUI/DUI roadblocks to be constitutionally valid, the selection of vehicles to be stopped must not be arbitrary; safety must be assured; motorists’ inconvenience must be minimized; and assurance must be given that the procedure to…
OUI/DUI Roadblock Held Constitutional Despite Deviations from Operational Plan
Massachusetts law permits police officers to conduct OUI/DUI roadblocks, or what is legally known as “field sobriety checkpoints.” For OUI/DUI roadblocks to be constitutionally valid, the selection of vehicles to be stopped must not be arbitrary; safety must be assured; motorists’ inconvenience must be minimized; and assurance must be given that the procedure to…
Massachusetts Alcohol Breath Test Machines Between 2012-2014 Ruled Unreliable
In response to the challenge to alcohol breath test results involving the Alcotest 9510, a Massachusetts judge has recently ruled that the BAT results for yielded by this machine for the period between June 2012 and September 2014 are unreliable and inadmissible at trial. Results yielded after September 14, 2014, he further ruled, are admissible.…
Ambulance or EMT Records Ruled Admissible in Massachusetts OUI/DUI Trials
The defendant in Commonwealth v. Palacios claimed that the ambulance records should not have been admitted against her at his OUI/DUI trial and that references to her intoxication should have been redacted. The Massachusetts Appeals Court, however, concluded that the ambulance records were properly admitted as records of medical services.
This case began when…
Ambulance or EMT Records Ruled Admissible in Massachusetts OUI/DUI Trials
The defendant in Commonwealth v. Palacios claimed that the ambulance records should not have been admitted against her at his OUI/DUI trial and that references to her intoxication should have been redacted. The Massachusetts Appeals Court, however, concluded that the ambulance records were properly admitted as records of medical services.
This case began when…
Massachusetts Appeals Court Throws Out OUI/DUI Case for “No Fix” Violation
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of an OUI/DUI indictment because of the Commonwealth’s violation of the “No-Fix Law”. In the case of Commonwealth v. Burnham, the appeals court upheld the trial court’s dismissal where the defendant did not receive prompt and definite notice of the OUI/DUI charge for which he…