Our Raleigh Criminal Defense Lawyers Fight for You
Because our firm takes a team approach in everything we do and work with each other so you benefit from our collective experiences in the courtroom, we have a legacy of getting results and winning criminal defense cases for our clients. Sandman, Finn & Fitzhugh is dedicated to providing a higher standard of professional service and we never back down from a challenge. Hiring our Raleigh criminal defense attorneys is
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DISMISSAL OF 175 DWI & TRAFFIC OFFENSES
Driving While Impaired
Our very own Bill Finn revealed a Wake County sheriff’s deputy had violated the rights of Finn’s DWI client by lying on the court stand while testifying under oath. The sheriff’s deputy had marked the defendant as refusing to request a witness and take a sobriety test. Upon further investigation, the defense found that the sheriff’s deputy did not give the defendant enough time to request a witness and had marked the defendant as refusing to take a breathalyzer test when she simply wanted questions answered before she took the test. This wasn’t the first time the sheriff’s deputy had untruthfully recorded, stood and testified on a DWI and traffic related account. The District Attorney ruled that the officer under question was not competent enough to testify in the violations he had recently issued and, as a result, 104 DWI cases and 71 traffic related offenses in Raleigh, NC were dismissed.
A VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY
Driving While Impaired
Police stopped the defendant, represented by the lawyers of Sandman, Finn & Fitzhugh, for weaving and having a tag light out. The officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol and the defendant admitted to drinking. The defendant was unable to say his ABC’s or complete the finger dexterity test but submitted to a field sobriety test, known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) pupil stimulus test. The officer concluded 6 out of the 6 points tested were indicative of impairment. The defendant then registered positive for alcohol on a portable Breathalyzer test.
On cross examination the officer acknowledged that the defendant said he was weaving because he was texting while driving and the officer believed the defendant failed the ABC test and finger dexterity test because he was “nervous and visibly shaking”. After viewing a videotape of the administered field sobriety test, the officer was forced to admit that he did not conduct the HGN test as he was trained to do and that the defendant passed the walk and turn test, in addition to the one leg stand test. The attorneys at Sandman, Finn & Fitzhugh worked hard on behalf of our client in order to prepare a successful defense and, despite registering a .17 on the breath test, the Judge granted the defendant’s motion to be dismissed for lack of probable cause.
The defendant of Sandman, Finn & Fitzhugh was involved in a motor vehicle accident, wrecked her car and cut a utility pole in half. An officer responded and was directed by two individuals to a nearby restaurant’s bathroom where the defendant was tending to her cut hand. The defendant admitted to driving the car and causing the accident.
The defendant failed all of her field sobriety tests and her Blood Alcohol Content was a .20. The defendant was charged with a DWI and being under the age of 21 and driving after consuming alcohol. With the help of our Criminal Defense team at Sandman, Finn & Fitzhugh, the client was found NOT GUILTY on both charges.
CASE WAS DISMISSED
MANUFACTURING MARIJUANA
The case detective received information that our defendant was in possession of marijuana, but lacked probable cause to issue a search warrant. Because of this, the detective decided to perform a “knock and talk” on the defendant’s residence. While approaching the residence the officer noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the house. The officer abandoned the “knock and talk” and with the new information applied for, and were later granted, a search warrant for the house. Upon executing the search warrant the defendant was charged with multiple felony drug charges. Our firm’s attorneys successfully defended the client’s case, which was dismissed due to the unconstitutional nature of the search.
UNDERAGE POSSESSION OF ALCOHOL AND PURCHASING ALCOHOL FOR SOMEONE UNDERAGE
Driving While Impaired
Law enforcement officers stopped the defendant’s car after watching the vehicle leave an ABC store next to NC State University. The driver was 20 and the passenger was 21. Both admitted that the underage driver was going to consume some of the alcohol and they were both charged. With the help of our firm’s Criminal Defense representation, the passenger’s cases was dismissed by the court and the District Attorney’s Office then declined to prosecute the underage driver.