DUI - Roadblocks
DUI Road Blocks have been in the news a lot lately because of HPD's investigation into some of the police sergeants and officers who run them. Apparently there are possible allegations of misconduct in regards to who was at the DUI roadblock and when, and whether reality matches up with what was reported on paper. However this shakes out in the end, the current is good news for some defendants who have recently been accused of driving under the influence. The fact of the investigation brings into questioon the credibility of those state witnesess. As a result people who had those officers involved in their DUI or traffic stop may be able to avoid prosecution.
Something that has not been in the news lately, but also is in regards to DUI road blocks is the fact that some certain DUI roadblocks are not being run in compliance with the statute. 291E-20 requires that the a DUI roadblock or DUI checkpoint be conducted for no longer than a maximum of 3 hours. If the road block is run for longer than that, the Defendant may be able to argue that the evidence collected at the road block, i.e. the standardized field sobriety test (SFST) results, and statements that "I have a few glasses of wine with dinner" or "I had a few beers at the club" as well as even the intoxilizer or breathylizer results collected back at the police station should all be excluded. This argument has been successful recently, and should continue to be successful in future cases--at least with the one judge who ruled against the prosecutor.
Lastly, some people may have heard of the recent State v. Wheeler decision that dismissed a number of DUI / OVUII cases because the Criminal Compaint failed to state an essential element of the crime of DUI, specifically that the Criminal Complaint failed to state that the offense happened on a public street or roadway. When this decision came down a number of active cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the state was at leave to file new complaints that included the essential language. There are at least two Rule 40, Hawaii Rule of Penal Procedure, petitions that I'm aware of pending in District Court to overturn prior covictions where the Deputy Prosecutor's criminal complaint (whether it was written or oral) failed to use the essential language. We have yet to be seen whether this argument will be successful, and also what it would do to the state's decision to prosecute those cases again. I'll try to keep this blog updated on the results of the pending petitions.