The client was allegedly behind the wheel of a car that crashed into a telephone pole in Morris Township, NJ. According to Morris County prosecutors, the client hit the telephone pole and then drove away without alerting authorities. The accident was reportedly so severe that the vehicle’s airbags were deployed.
When Morris Township police officers found the client several hours later, he was asleep in his girlfriend’s residence. Police placed the client under arrest at that time. He was then charged with drunk driving (DWI), DWI in a school zone, and refusal to submit to a breath test. The client was also cited for multiple traffic violations, including leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.
Although this was the client’s first DWI offense, the number of charges against him meant that faced possible license suspension of more than two years. As a result, it was imperative that he have strong legal representation to help him fight the charges.
From the moment the client contacted the Tormey Law Firm, Travis J. Tormey got to work crafting a defense strategy to help him beat the charges. Based on the facts of the case, it was impossible for the prosecution to prove that our client was under the influence of alcohol while driving; that’s because police never conducted any field sobriety tests and the client refused to provide a breath sample. Additionally, the client was in need of medical attention immediately after the accident, so it could be argued that police should have taken him to a local hospital and obtained a blood sample. Furthermore, the prosecution could not even rely on witness statements to prove intoxication because there were no witnesses to the accident. By the time the suspect reached his girlfriend’s house, it was no longer possible to establish whether he was drunk or sober at the time of the car crash.
Travis Tormey was able to convince the prosecution to accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge of careless driving. As a result, our client managed to avoid a lengthy license suspension; instead, his driver’s license was suspended for just 90 days. Our client also pleaded guilty to failure to report an accident, resulting in a minor fine. All of the other charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence. This was a positive outcome for the client and a tremendous success for the Tormey Law Firm.