In a unanimous decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s guilty verdict for a man charged with DUI / OVWI. At trial, Attorney Marc Lopez contested the constitutionality of the DUI / OVWI Sobriety Checkpoint and the admission of the certified chemical test results. The judge determined that the DUI / OVWI Sobriety Checkpoint was constitutional and that the results of the certified chemical test – in this instance a breath test – would come into evidence despite some irregularities in the test’s administration. This client was found not guilty of operating while intoxicated, but guilty of having a blood alcohol concentration above a .08.
Attorney Marc Lopez filed his notice of appeal. Briefs were drafted, and the Indiana Court of Appeals set the matter for oral argument. Ninety-seven days after this appeal was initiated, the Court of Appeals agreed that the certified chemical test results should not have been admitted at trial. The Court then reversed the client’s conviction. The Court of Appeals chose not to address Attorney Lopez’s checkpoint argument, as the State had no basis for its conviction with the breath test excluded.
This is a huge victory for the Marc Lopez Law Firm, as less than 13 percent of appealed criminal cases have any sort of issue overturned. An even smaller percentage result in a defendant’s conviction being completely reversed.
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