Commonwealth v. J.H.

AFTER A TWO-DAY JURY TRIAL, ATTORNEY PATRICK J. NOONAN WINS NOT GUILTY VERDICTS FOR OPERATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF LIQUOR (THIRD OFFENSE) AND NEGLIGENT OPERATION

Defendant, a construction worker from Hanover, was arrested by Massachusetts State Police and charged with OUI-Liquor (third offense), see G.L. c. 90, §24. A third-offense OUI is a felony, which carries a minimum mandatory jail sentence of six-months and an 8-year suspension of driver’s license. State Police received a call from an off-duty police officer who reported that the Defendant was driving erratically on Route 3 in Rockland. Based on that report, State Troopers stopped the Defendant’s vehicle on Route 3. The Trooper approached the Defendant and noticed that the Defendant’s eyes were red, bloodshot and glassy. The Trooper observed an odor of alcohol on the Defendant’s breath. The Trooper asked the Defendant if he had consumed alcohol and the Defendant stated that he consumed a few nips about an hour prior. Troopers searched the Defendant’s vehicle and found six empty nip bottles. The Trooper administered two field sobriety tests, the One-Leg Stand and the Nine-Step Walk and Turn, which, in the Trooper’s opinion, the Defendant failed. During the booking process at the police station, the Defendant fell asleep. The Trooper had to shout the Defendant’s name several times and had to physically jostle the Defendant in order to wake him up.

Result: After a jury trial, Attorney Patrick J. Noonan won not guilty verdicts on all charges. At trial, Attorney Noonan was able to exclude certain testimony related to the off-duty police officer’s observations of the Defendant’s so-called erratic operation on Route 3. Attorney Noonan introduced the Defendant’s booking photo and the Defendant’s driver’s license photo to show that the Defendant did not have red, bloodshot, and glassy eyes, as the Trooper claimed. Attorney Noonan pointed out that the police did not identify any nip bottles in the vehicle when they conducted an inventory search of property in the Defendant’s vehicle. Troopers did not photograph or seize the nip bottles as evidence. For the field sobriety tests, Attorney Noonan pointed out that the Defendant satisfactorily performed the Nine-Step Walk and Turn with some minor errors. The vehicle stop occurred in the evening, after the Defendant had worked a full-day in construction and he was wearing work boots during his sobriety tests. The Defendant’s drowsiness during booking could be explained by the fact that he worked a full-day in construction and was tired as a result. Lastly, Attorney Noonan highlighted a huge inconsistency in the prosecution’s case. During her opening statement, the prosecutor argued that the jury would hear evidence that the Defendant admitted to consuming “three nips,” which turned out to be inaccurate.