The Oklahoma Highway Patrol stated last week that they will not release the dash cam video from the Trooper's car that is now charged with rape. OHP claims that to do so could influence the criminal case against the defendant and they do not want to set a precedent that is unprofessional and irresponsible. OHP also stated that they have a duty to presserve and protect the evidence.
OHP has previously released videos when there are car chases or other incurrences that make the Patrol look good but if it makes the Patrol look bad...then we get this whitewashing statement about protecting evidence. Here is my letter to the Editor that was printed in today's Daily Oklahoman:
Subject: Letter to Editor_OHP Video Release
Dear Editor:
OHP's Aug. 19. 2011 statement wherein OHP justifies not releasing the dash cam video from the trooper's car alleged of sexual misconduct is extremely hypocritical. OHP states that every citizen accused of a crime has the right to expect the law enforcement agency preserve and safeguard the evidence and that 'haphazardly releasing evidence that could influence the outcome of a criminal case would be irresponsible and unprofessional -- this is not a precedent that the department is willing to establish."
Complete hogwash! Flashback to January 2011 when this same trooper used his car to force a suspected DUI driver into stopping on the Belle Isle bridge before entering a construction zone. Even though the suspected DUI driver was charged with several crimes and should have been afforded the same courtesy of not releasing the dash cam video haphazardly to avoid influencing the suspected DUI driver's criminal case,OHP released the video immediately after the incident. So much for irresponsible and unprofessional.
OHP's claims that they want to preserve evidence is almost as incredulous. As a DUI defense lawyer, we request OHP videos in every case. Although the report written by the trooper will state that the video was booked into evidence, I have many cases where when we request the video through court ordered subpoenas-- the response is that there is no video recording. I have asked troopers under oath whether they made a video recording of the stop and even though they testify yes, OHP's response is still that there is no video. So much for preserving evidence.
John Hunsucker
One North Hudson Ave, Ste 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600
.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Police Officer is Arrested Pulling DARE Trailer
School Resource Officer is arrested after DUI accident while pulling DARE trailer. Cops are not super human or above the law. Their opinions, testimony and actions are no different than any other citizen walking the streets.
http://www.wave3.com/story/15170315/cop-pulling-dare-trailer-charged-with-dui
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
http://www.edgelawfirm.com/
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600
www.OKDUI.com
http://www.wave3.com/story/15170315/cop-pulling-dare-trailer-charged-with-dui
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
http://www.edgelawfirm.com/
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600
www.OKDUI.com
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
DUI Police Officer LIES in court--sent to jail
Police officer lies under oath and is sent to jail.
Officers are human and their testimony should be treated the same as any other witness, not given extra weight. This may be similar to other cases where the officer “enhanced” evidence in a DUI case so he could get more overtime from testifying. When there is a financial incentive involved, the testimony should be subjected to extreme scrutiny.
In this age of reduced privacy why shouldn’t every officer have a camera in his car? We have them at traffic intersections and the technology has been around for years. Yet many agencies do not equip their cars with a device which can protect the officer from unjustified claims and offer actual proof of events. It is expedient for the courts to expect a jury to simply “trust the police” they have no reason to lie---yet we have seen they are times that they do……..
http://wap.wsoctv.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=37&nid=47623714&cid=366&scid=-1&ith=3&title=Local+News
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
Officers are human and their testimony should be treated the same as any other witness, not given extra weight. This may be similar to other cases where the officer “enhanced” evidence in a DUI case so he could get more overtime from testifying. When there is a financial incentive involved, the testimony should be subjected to extreme scrutiny.
In this age of reduced privacy why shouldn’t every officer have a camera in his car? We have them at traffic intersections and the technology has been around for years. Yet many agencies do not equip their cars with a device which can protect the officer from unjustified claims and offer actual proof of events. It is expedient for the courts to expect a jury to simply “trust the police” they have no reason to lie---yet we have seen they are times that they do……..
http://wap.wsoctv.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=37&nid=47623714&cid=366&scid=-1&ith=3&title=Local+News
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
Friday, April 22, 2011
TOO OLD FOR FIELD SOBRIETY TEST
PULASKI TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Lawrence County judge has dismissed a drunken driving case against an Ohio woman, ruling she was too old to take a field sobriety test.
Danniel Weaver, of Youngstown, was 59 when she was cited for DUI following an accident on Route 422 in Pulaski Township in February 2010.
According to court records, a police officer asked Weaver to perform four field sobriety tests. She passed three of them, but failed a test requiring her to stand on one leg.
Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the one-leg-stand test should not be done on persons over 60.
"The feeling is, if you get to a certain age, that's just not the same kind of indicator of intoxication as it was when you were younger," said John Burkoff, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
In his ruling on the case, Common Pleas Judge Dominick Motto wrote: "Since the tests were not designed for persons above the age of 60, and Ms. Weaver was 59 at the time, and she had just been in a violent automobile collision, the results of Ms. Weaver's single failed field sobriety test should be deemed unreliable."
The police officer also said Weaver had slightly slurred speech and her eyes were "a bit glassy" but the judge ruled that alone was not enough evidence to pursue the DUI case.
Burkoff said the judge's decision does not mean seniors are off the hook if they get behind the wheel, because they can still be given Breathalyzer or blood tests.
"The one impression you shouldn't get is that what the judge was doing was creating some kind of senior discount for DUIs," said Burkoff. "Doesn't exist."
A breath test that was done on Weaver was not submitted as evidence in her case. The reason for that is unclear.
Weaver told Van Osdol that she had no idea that the one-leg-stand test was improper for someone her age.
CAUTION:
AS WE HAVE STATED ON OUR WEB SITES, WE WOULD ALWAYS REFUSE THE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS. IN OKLAHOMA THEY ARE STRICTLY VOLUNTARY AND ARE DESIGNED FOR FAILURE.
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
Danniel Weaver, of Youngstown, was 59 when she was cited for DUI following an accident on Route 422 in Pulaski Township in February 2010.
According to court records, a police officer asked Weaver to perform four field sobriety tests. She passed three of them, but failed a test requiring her to stand on one leg.
Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the one-leg-stand test should not be done on persons over 60.
"The feeling is, if you get to a certain age, that's just not the same kind of indicator of intoxication as it was when you were younger," said John Burkoff, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
In his ruling on the case, Common Pleas Judge Dominick Motto wrote: "Since the tests were not designed for persons above the age of 60, and Ms. Weaver was 59 at the time, and she had just been in a violent automobile collision, the results of Ms. Weaver's single failed field sobriety test should be deemed unreliable."
The police officer also said Weaver had slightly slurred speech and her eyes were "a bit glassy" but the judge ruled that alone was not enough evidence to pursue the DUI case.
Burkoff said the judge's decision does not mean seniors are off the hook if they get behind the wheel, because they can still be given Breathalyzer or blood tests.
"The one impression you shouldn't get is that what the judge was doing was creating some kind of senior discount for DUIs," said Burkoff. "Doesn't exist."
A breath test that was done on Weaver was not submitted as evidence in her case. The reason for that is unclear.
Weaver told Van Osdol that she had no idea that the one-leg-stand test was improper for someone her age.
CAUTION:
AS WE HAVE STATED ON OUR WEB SITES, WE WOULD ALWAYS REFUSE THE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS. IN OKLAHOMA THEY ARE STRICTLY VOLUNTARY AND ARE DESIGNED FOR FAILURE.
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
Friday, April 8, 2011
JUDGE SHOWS HE IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW
Drunk Judge, Wrapped in Bedsheet, Arrested in Hotel Hallway
By Adam Ramirez on April 6, 2011 5:47 AM | No TrackBacks
A Pennsylvania judge has landed on the other side of the law after police found him (sans robe or gavel) highly intoxicated, naked and wrapped in a bedsheet in a Cumberland County hotel.
Douglas Gummo, a magistrate judge in Huntingdon County, is charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
Police said they were called to the Radisson Penn Harris hotel in Camp Hill on April 1 after getting a call from another judge. Police said Gummo had met the other judge at a conference at the Radisson and he was trying to get into her room, WJAC-TV reports.
Gummo made quite a scene outside his fellow judge's hotel room. He really wanted to get in there. She really did not want him to come in.
Gummo was wearing only a bed sheet when he was taken into custody for repeatedly banging on the hotel door, police said, WGAL-TV reports.
Officers wrote in the citation that Gummo admitted to drinking 10 cans of beer and that the victim was "shaken" by the incident and required a police escort back to her room, WJAC-TV reports.
"She refused him admission to her room previously in the evening," a police news release states. "Gummo returned a short period later and beat on her door for approximately 10 minutes and attempted to turn the doorknob. He left and returned on two other occasions beating on the door attempting to gain access."
Huntingdon County court administrators told WJAC-TV on Monday afternoon that Gummo had not been suspended, but that a court order was released stating that other district magistrates would preside over hearings on Gummo's docket.
The woman in the room was identified by police as a magisterial district judge from outside the Harrisburg area, The Patriot-News reports.
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
By Adam Ramirez on April 6, 2011 5:47 AM | No TrackBacks
A Pennsylvania judge has landed on the other side of the law after police found him (sans robe or gavel) highly intoxicated, naked and wrapped in a bedsheet in a Cumberland County hotel.
Douglas Gummo, a magistrate judge in Huntingdon County, is charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
Police said they were called to the Radisson Penn Harris hotel in Camp Hill on April 1 after getting a call from another judge. Police said Gummo had met the other judge at a conference at the Radisson and he was trying to get into her room, WJAC-TV reports.
Gummo made quite a scene outside his fellow judge's hotel room. He really wanted to get in there. She really did not want him to come in.
Gummo was wearing only a bed sheet when he was taken into custody for repeatedly banging on the hotel door, police said, WGAL-TV reports.
Officers wrote in the citation that Gummo admitted to drinking 10 cans of beer and that the victim was "shaken" by the incident and required a police escort back to her room, WJAC-TV reports.
"She refused him admission to her room previously in the evening," a police news release states. "Gummo returned a short period later and beat on her door for approximately 10 minutes and attempted to turn the doorknob. He left and returned on two other occasions beating on the door attempting to gain access."
Huntingdon County court administrators told WJAC-TV on Monday afternoon that Gummo had not been suspended, but that a court order was released stating that other district magistrates would preside over hearings on Gummo's docket.
The woman in the room was identified by police as a magisterial district judge from outside the Harrisburg area, The Patriot-News reports.
Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com
John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Dirty DUI Cop
Saw an article on www.sfgate.com this morning that should make most people uneasy. Apparently a Deputy with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department in California has been accused of setting up citizens for DUI arrests so he could gain financially. He was discovered after admitting his dirty tactics to other police officers.
The alleged purpose of the DUI setups were to "dirty" up the arrested DUI targets so it could be used against them in non related divorce and other legal cases. According to the article, the deputy was in cahoots with a private investigator. The allegation is that the investigator would hire pretty women to meet up the the target and invite him out for drinks. Then it is alleged that after several drinks, the investigator would tip off the deputy with the location and vehicle type. The deputy would then sit outside the bar awaiting the target. It is alleged that the deputy received financial incentives from the investigator for these DUI arrests.
No one condones drinking and driving but as citizens in a free society, this type of for profit law enforcement can't be tolerated. It is bad enough that some police officers make more money on DUI overtime shifts which are paid for with quota based federal grants than they do from their regular pay check. When we allow the end to justify the means and the means is luring people into bars with pretty women and then "tipping off" a police officer who also has a financial stake in the outcome is just plain wrong.
John Hunsucker
www.okdui.com
Bruce Edge
www.edgelawfirm.com
The alleged purpose of the DUI setups were to "dirty" up the arrested DUI targets so it could be used against them in non related divorce and other legal cases. According to the article, the deputy was in cahoots with a private investigator. The allegation is that the investigator would hire pretty women to meet up the the target and invite him out for drinks. Then it is alleged that after several drinks, the investigator would tip off the deputy with the location and vehicle type. The deputy would then sit outside the bar awaiting the target. It is alleged that the deputy received financial incentives from the investigator for these DUI arrests.
No one condones drinking and driving but as citizens in a free society, this type of for profit law enforcement can't be tolerated. It is bad enough that some police officers make more money on DUI overtime shifts which are paid for with quota based federal grants than they do from their regular pay check. When we allow the end to justify the means and the means is luring people into bars with pretty women and then "tipping off" a police officer who also has a financial stake in the outcome is just plain wrong.
John Hunsucker
www.okdui.com
Bruce Edge
www.edgelawfirm.com
Another cop busted for DUI
Once again, another police official has been arrested for drunk driving. This last friday, a public information officer in Albany, New York was arrested after being seen driving without headlights. Not many details yet but he did refuse to take the state's test. I am speculating that maybe he doesn't trust the machines that they use daily and tout as accurate.
It is unclear which machine was offered for the breath test, but Bruce and I have both been able to obtain false results from our intoxilyzer 8000's (registered trademark of CMI). This may be one of the reasons that CMI refuses to sell the Intoxilyzer 8000 to defense attorneys or our experts as they do not want the machine tested to show it's inaccuracies. (Bruce and I are the only attorneys in Oklahoma that own Intoxilyzer 8000s)
For more information, contact John through www.okdui.com or Bruce through www.edgelawfirm.com
John
It is unclear which machine was offered for the breath test, but Bruce and I have both been able to obtain false results from our intoxilyzer 8000's (registered trademark of CMI). This may be one of the reasons that CMI refuses to sell the Intoxilyzer 8000 to defense attorneys or our experts as they do not want the machine tested to show it's inaccuracies. (Bruce and I are the only attorneys in Oklahoma that own Intoxilyzer 8000s)
For more information, contact John through www.okdui.com or Bruce through www.edgelawfirm.com
John
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