Portsmouth Criminal Defense Blog

Individuals summoned to court after a drunk driving arrest are allowed due process in order to determine whether they are guilty of their crimes. Part of that due process requires the involved police officers to show up to court as witnesses to the arrests.

So when a state trooper recently failed to show up at court, dozens of criminal cases in which he was directly involved were dismissed, clearing the accused of all charges. Twelve of the cases involved drunk driving arrests.

When police are arresting someone, one of the first things they must determine is whether the alleged criminal is dangerous. When the police make the right determination, they can help ensure no one is harmed. However, when police in Portsmouth are wrong, someone almost always gets hurt.

Recently, the person who got hurt was a woman who was getting arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. The police received a tip that a car was driving erratically, and when they arrived at the scene, the car was parked on the sidewalk with the door open and the lights on. The driver was lying down inside. Although police suspected she was intoxicated and she hadn't done anything to threaten the officers or anyone else, police shot her four times with rubber bullets.

One of the bullets left a six-inch gash in the woman's leg and required 30 stitches to close the injury.

In our last post, we mentioned that DNA samples are often one of the most important pieces of evidence in a criminal defense case. Unfortunately, after an FBI expert reports that an individual's DNA matches DNA found at the crime scene, few people question the results.

However, an investigation from the Justice Department proved that DNA errors may be leaving wrongfully convicted individuals in Virginia's prisons. Moreover, an investigation from one newspaper reported that "hundreds of defendants nationwide remain in prison or on parole for crimes that might merit exoneration, a retrial or a retesting of evidence" because the DNA tests that were completed originally may have been flawed.

If the Justice Department and prosecutors are willing to sit by idly, who is responsible for ensuring people are not incarcerated for crimes they did not commit?

When people hire a criminal defense attorney, they are typically interested in achieving the best outcome in their situation. For some people, it is critical to have every charge dropped and to help ensure their criminal records stay clean.

However, there are some people in Portsmouth who know that the best outcome in their situation may still involve a mark against their criminal records. In those situations, criminal defense attorneys work hard to help minimize the charges individuals are facing as well as the penalties that may be associated with them.

Recently, one attorney helped a mother receive a fraction of the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to drug charges.