100s of Cases Dismissed

Chippewa Falls, WI, driver charged with OWI/PAC-3rd offense in St. Croix County. This client did not have an attorney on one of her prior offenses, so Attorney Nero was able to file a motion to collaterally attack (throw out) that prior conviction. Due to the age of the other prior, if successful, this case would be reduced not just to an OWI-2nd, but all the way down to a noncriminal OWI-1st. After a two lengthy hearings where the client testified after extensive preparations, the judge granted the motion. The OWI-3rd was knocked down to an OWI-1st and the client never did a day in jail.

Hudson, WI, driver charged with OWI/PAC-2nd offense in St. Croix County. Another motorist called 911 to report this client’s driving behavior, but by the time the police caught up to her vehicle, she had already made it into her attached garage, an area which is given strong protection by the Fourth Amendment. The police didn’t even ask for permission to go into her garage, so Attorney Nero filed a motion to suppress. The judge agreed and threw out the whole case.

Hudson, WI, driver charged with OWI/PAC-1st in St. Croix County. This was a traffic accident where the client had a 0.10 test result on the Intoximeter breath machine. Attorney Nero filed a motion to throw out the test result due to the officer’s noncompliance with the procedures for requesting a test. Also, during the pendency of the court case, the officer was fired from his law enforcement agency. After he lost his job, he began to refuse to comply with subpoenas – even from prosecutors. Due to his unwillingness to cooperate, the prosecution offered a plea to reckless driving, which saved the client from an OWI conviction, loss of license, large fine, and alcohol assessment.

Hayward, WI, driver charged with OWI/PAC-1st offense in Sawyer County. This case involved a questionable traffic stop by a tribal police officer outside of his jurisdiction. Attorney Nero brought up that fact to the prosecution, who offered a plea to reckless driving for fear that they would lose the whole case absent some compromise. The client happily accepted as they avoided an OWI conviction, revocation, fine, and alcohol assessment.

Osceola, WI, driver charged with OWI-1st/refusal in St. Croix Falls, Polk County. She was pulled over for crossing over the fog line and for not having a license plate bulb in working order. The officer smelled alcohol, saw her allegedly bloodshot eyes, and requested field sobriety tests. He decided she failed, but she disagreed. A search of her vehicle also uncovered marijuana, which the officer suspected was in her blood. She refused a blood test, but luckily the police got a search warrant for her blood. The test results showed that she was under the limit for alcohol and that she had zero THC (marijuana) in her system. Attorney Nero convinced the prosecutor to amend everything to a reckless driving, even though the prosecutor could have gotten a refusal conviction, which carries harsher penalties than the OWI itself. His argument was that it was the right thing to do, given the test results. The client gladly accepted the reckless driving, as it saved them from an OWI conviction, revocation, ignition interlock device order, and other serious penalties.

Hayward, WI, driver charged with OWI/PAC-1st/refusal, as well as felony fleeing or eluding an officer and misdemeanor obstructing an officer. This case arose on a very cold night with glare ice covering the roads, at an intersection with noisy maintenance vehicles, tow trucks, and other distractions. Another vehicle had slid off the road and the client stopped to see if everyone was okay. The police directed him to keep moving, but he took a little longer than they wanted. However, he started to move along, after which the police told him to stop. He did not stop, maintaining that he did not hear the officer’s instructions. He drove to his nearby home, given the ice. The officer pursued, but this was not a high speed chase due to road conditions. The client made it home and opened the door because the officer was about to break it down. Attorney Nero filed several motions to suppress the evidence, and the judge threw out ALL CHARGES, including the felony, misdemeanor, and the OWI case, because the officer lacked a basis to do any type of traffic stop, based upon the client following the instructions to keep moving. This was a hard earned result after hours of motion hearings, other in-court litigation, and lengthy written legal arguments. The client and Attorney Nero could not have been happier with this outcome.