.238% Blood Test Thrown Out - Charges Dropped!
Client was driving a pickup truck that was pulling another pickup during a heavy snowstorm. The two pickups were connected with a chain. A police officer yelled to the second driver instructing them to pull over. The client continued to travel because he was close to home and thought it would be safer to travel home than to pull over. Nonetheless, the police officer gave chase and stopped the vehicles. When the officer walked up to our client's pickup, there was a case of beer in the bed of the truck and the officer claims that he showed signs of alcohol impairment.
After doing field sobriety testing in the snow, our client was arrested and taken for a blood test. The blood test result was .238%. We filed a well-researched and extensive pre-trial motion arguing that the vehicle stop was illegal. The trial judge ruled against us. Our client was sentenced to 90 days in jail and given an 18-month license suspension.
We filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court where the appeals court agreed with us. The Court reversed and ruled that the traffic stop was illegal.
The result: The Court reversed the jail sentence and all charges were ultimately dismissed.