Fred Slone. Premier DUI Defense lawyer.

SAMPLE CASE NO. 2 - Municipality v. L.C. - (District Court, Anchorage)

This was the first in a series of three different DWI cases (arising in 1991, 1994, and 1997) in which Mr. Slone represented the same client, L.C.

On an early December morning a police officer found L.C. "passed out" over the steering wheel of his pickup that was stuck in the snow on a fairly deserted road in south Anchorage. Field tests were administered and allegedly failed, after which L.C. was arrested and taken to a substation. A breath test was administered with a .152 breath alcohol level. At the time of his arrest, L.C., a mechanic, had at least 2 prior DWI convictions. Thus, if convicted in this case, he faced a minimum mandatory jail term of at least 60 days, and a 10 year license revocation.

At trial, the officers who arrived at the scene testified that L.C. was intoxicated, and the breath test result of .154 was admitted into evidence.

L.C. testified that he had been returning from a ski trip at Alyeska Ski Resort. His ski equipment was still in his truck at the time of his arrest. He testified that while he had drank alcohol, a friend of his had been driving him home. L.C. testified that his friend got stuck in a snow bank on the road. After they were unable to extricate the vehicle, his friend hiked off to try to get help. It was an extremely cold and windy evening. In order to stay warm, L.C. testified that he moved over into the driver’s seat to turn on the car and the heater, and fell asleep.

At the request of Mr. Slone, the judge instructed the jury that they could consider the defense of necessity. The defense applied if, under all the circumstances, L.C. reasonably believed that his act of operating the vehicle was done to avoid an even greater risk of harm to himself (freezing) or his property, and there was no available alternative.

The jury returned a verdict of "NOT GUILTY". In this case L.C. avoided a minimum jail sentence of at least 60 days and a 10 year loss of his license.