RECENT TRIALS OF NAUM ESTEVEZ

When choosing a trial attorney for your case, a lawyer should be able to point to recent trials and discuss them with you. Awards show an attorney’s reputation in the community but if the attorney has not won a DUI/DWI trial recently, you may want to seek representation that is currently winning trials. Like speaking a different language – if you don’t use it; you lose it. Same with trial DUI/DWI attorneys. The more often an attorney is in trial zealously representing clients and winning, the sharper the attorney is for handling various trial issues.

March 10, 2020

DUI 1st BAC .15

This was a first offense for our under 21 year old client, and was charged in Warren County, VA. Client was pulled over for speeding and was given a series of field sobriety tests. Despite doing well on these tests, the officer insisted on a PBT which client blew into and resulted in the arrest. Through negotiations, it was clear that this young adult would not be best served by a DUI. The prosecution ultimately amended the charge to Reckless Driving which saved this young adult many additional penalties. Reckless Driving.

February 26, 2020

DUI 3rd/Possession of Marijuana Nolle Prossed

Our client was charged with DUI 3rd in Prince William County with a BAC of .06. The client was not presumed sober because the BAC was above .04. Nevertheless, upon review of the body camera footage, it was clear that the client didn’t appear intoxicated. The suspected marijuana was found after the arrest. Due to careful negotiations with the prosecutor decided to not pursue the charges against my client any further and agreed that the case should be expunged. Case Nolle Prossed.

February 25. 2020

Felony Shooting from a Vehicle Suppression Motion Granted

My client was accused of shooting a firearm from his vehicle in Culpeper County. There was an unlawful search down on his vehicle when he was stopped. The officer admitted that he did not believe my client to be armed and dangerous to justify the search of the vehicle. Court ruled that the firearm would be excluded from trial. Motion Granted.

February 13, 2020

DUI 1st Amended

Our client was in a single car accident. The police arrived at his disabled vehicle and immediately suspected DUI. Despite client’s efforts to be compliant and took all the field sobriety tests well, client was placed under arrest for DUI. At the station, a breath sample of .06 was provided. After much discussion with the prosecution, the case was amended to the traffic infraction of Improper Driving. Traffic Infraction.

December 12, 2019

DUI 1st .17 Amended

Our client was pulled over after driving in the median. Upon being pulled over, the officer immediately began commanding our client to do what he asked. He even repeatedly said that it was a requirement that the standardize field sobriety tests must be done, despite them being legally voluntary. Due to this, prosecution offered the traffic infraction of improper driving. Traffic Infraction.

December 11, 2019

DUI 1st .14

Client was pulled over at Jiffy Lube Live but not at the checkpoint. During the police encounter client appeared on body camera to be sober. Very clear speech and did well on the field sobriety tests. At the station a breath test was provided however, it was on a machine that had a previous error code that called into question the accuracy of my client’s sample. Additionally, the rest for the stop in the first place called into question whether rights were violated. To avoid possible loss at trial, client agreed to reckless driving, without license suspension and without ASAP. Reckless Driving.

December 10, 2019

DUI 1st .09

Client was pulled over at Jiffy Lube Live at the checkpoint. During the police encounter client appeared on body camera to be sober. At the station a breath test was provided with a result of .09. However, for the checkpoint to be Constitutionally sound, the police must follow the plan of the checkpoint. Here, there were some deviations but rather to risk a trial, client chose a reckless driving plea offer and later had the DUI charge expunged. Reckless Driving.

October 17, 2019

DUI 1st .27

Client was lawfully pulled over. Submitted to all tests and showed significant signs of impairment. At station blew a .27, over 3 times the legal limit. Nevertheless, with client’s hard work and our presentation to the prosecution of the facts and mitigation package, client did not go to jail. DUI 1st; no jail.

October 2, 2019

DUI 1st .07

Client was pulled over at Jiffy Lube Live checkpoint. Client complied with officer and showed very little signs of impairment. Officer arrested and at the station blew a .07. We told the prosecution that we wanted a trial. Commonwealth decided to nolle pros the case and client’s record was subsequently expunged. CHARGE DROPPED.

September 13, 2019

DUI 1st .12

Client was pulled over after hitting a patch of water. We went to trial and had filed a Motion to Suppress. The officer was not well prepared for trial. He could not articulate a basis for the stop. Motion to Suppress based on lack of reasonable articulable suspicion granted. DISMISSED.

September 11, 2019

DUI 1st .18

Client was found next to a vehicle which had flipped over. Client did not make any statements about driving and didn’t know what had happened. Client was taken to the hospital for blood draw. Due to the prosecution’s difficultly with identifying client as the driver, the offer was made for a reckless driving. Client accepted the offer with no driving license suspension, no ASAP requirement, no jail and only a fine. DUI was later expunged. Reckless Driving.

August 21, 2019

DUI 1st .13 and Reckless Driving 45/25

This was an interesting case in which the breath machine had a malfunction. We brought an expert from Missouri to discuss the error message that was indicted on the machine. This was a very unique message and the expert opined that after such a message, no other samples after would be reliable unless the machine was fixed. At trial, we were able to exclude the breath certificate due to this failing. However, this occurred after the original stop and judge found client guilty of Reckless Driving by speed. Not Guilty DUI.

August 21, 2019

DUI 1st .17

After the trial in which expert testified that the breath machine had a malfunction, this client’s breath sample was taken on the same machine. Commonwealth decided not to go forward with trial. Nolle Pros.

August 21, 2019

DUI 1st .08

Client was pulled over at the Jiffy Lube Live checkpoint detail. Client was compliant and did all the field sobriety tests. Despite the criminal complaint claiming there were signs of impairment, none were visible on the body camera footage. PBT was given and was a BAC of .09. After arrest, at the station, the BAC result was a .08. Due to Constitution issues with the checkpoint and the relatively low BAC at the station, the charge was amended to Reckless Driving without the ASAP requirement and without loss of license. Reckless Driving.

July 15, 2019

DUI 1st .10

Client was pulled over lawfully. There were not many defenses for the merits of the case. However, due to the unique circumstance of this client we were able to negotiate a deal that would not be life changing for him, which included no license suspension. Reckless Driving.

June 4, 2019

DUI 1st and Obstruction of Justice

Client was park in a parking lot with some friends. Police arrived and claimed that they were suspicious. Police investigated and saw signs of intoxication and the car was running. Nevertheless, the police did not obtain a breath sample at the police station and could not charge refusal because there was no indication client was driving on a highway within the last 3 hours. Instead, charged obstruction for not providing an sufficient breath sample. Commonwealth declined to proceed to trial on these facts. ALL CHARGES DROPPED.

November 2, 2017

DUI 1st .17 Dismissed

Our client was charged with DUI 1st in Prince William County with an elevated BAC .15 < .20. The officer testified at trial and the defense team played the body camera footage of the encounter. The video did not match the officer’s account of the facts. The client spoke clearly, did not appear to have bloodshot/glassy eyes and was stable when standing, walking and doing the field sobriety tests. We challenged whether there was probable cause to arrest and the judge determined the client’s 4th Amendment right to unreasonable searches and seizures was violated. Case Dismissed.

October 3, 2017

DUI 1st, Unreasonable Refusal and Speeding Tickets Nolle Prosequi at Trial

In Fairfax County, our client was stopped for allegedly speeding. He pulled over and the officer conducted a series of field sobriety tests. This was a situation where the officer was not prepared to testify at trial. He did not know how to proper administer field sobriety tests, did not properly take notes and provide them, did not fill out the paperwork correctly and overall was unable to articulate in any meaningful way what made him think our client was intoxicated. At the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s case, the defense made a motion to strike the Commonwealth’s evidence and the prosecutor agreed and decided to Drop All Charges.

September 7, 2017

DUI 1st .12 Not Guilty

After being found guilty in Culpeper General District Court, our client decided to appeal to the Circuit Court. We were able to use the information from the first trial’s transcript to prepare for the new trial in Culpeper Circuit Court. In this case, the officer was not honest about his training in the first trial. We were able to investigate and research the officer’s training to discover the truth. This new information put his credibility in question when looking at the central issue of the case which was whether there was alcohol influence on the client before or after operation of the vehicle. At this bench trial, the judge found our client Not Guilty.

August 17, 2017

DUI 1st .15 Dismissed

In Prince William County General District Court, our client to go to trial to determine whether or not a judge would find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. During the trial, it was clear from the officer’s testimony that there was an additional set of notes that were not produced. Additionally, these notes appeared to be very important because he was unable to clearly testify on the stand about what occurred with our client without a different set of notes. The defense objected to this testimony on Brady grounds, among other, and at the conclusion of the arguments, the court Dismissed the Case.

April 27, 2017

DWI 2nd Offense and Driving on Suspended 3rd Offense – All Not Guilty

In Fairfax County, our client had been working with another attorney. When the client decided to change attorneys, we were happy to step in. In this case, there was a video of the encounter and a blood test. The blood was taken from our client in violation of his 4th Amendment rights without a search warrant and therefore it was not admitted into evidence at trial. The video showed the truth about my client’s speech, ability to walk, ability to complete the field sobriety tests, and my client’s overall sobriety. At the close of all evidence, the judge found our client Not Guilty