BIG DUI HEARING THURSDAY

UPDATE: Report from the front lines of DUI Defense:

Richard Hersch writes:

My first post in four years.

The sound you heard emanating from the courthouse this afternoon was my motion crashing and burning. Ouch! Although we have substantial evidence that the inspection process for the breath machines is not scientifically reliable and subject to fraud (905 potential plug pulls -- and maybe ditched failed inspections during an 18 month period statewide), the judges held fast to a requirement that the infirmities relate directly to the breath reading in their case. My suggestion that all inspections be videotaped resulted in surprisingly strong pushback.

Whatever. Thanks for the support and kind words (mostly). Back to the drawing board for the next attack on these infernal machines. And yes, although less than 50% of the practice, there is gold in them there DUIs.

Sorry to hear about Tom Carney. There was a judge who let you know where you stood, whether you liked it or not.

Judge Tom Carney has passed away.

It is with very deep sadness that we report that former Circuit Court Judge Tom Carney has passed away. Judge Carney has been retired for several years and was enjoying his retirement golfing in North Carolina. More on this later. He was a Judge we were very fond of. A real man. A real judge.

THE COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT REPORTS....

At ease. I know that Rumpole owes you a DD22/416 (3rd DCA Report) but there are big doings Thursday in County Court that you should know about. So take a knee solider and listen up:

Not to many of you need additional reasons to drink adult beverages when in the Florida Keys, but thanks to DUI super-maven Richard Hersch, and attorney Hal Schumacher, the Intoxilyzer 8000 has been out of service ever since Hersch and company laid a whole lot of hurtin on the Monore County State Attorneys Office last summer. Hersch succeeded in showing that the machine's gerbils were not properly fed, thereby rending the wheel they ran on to power the machine NOT IN COMPLIANCE with the 600 or so federal and state regulations on the subject. There currently are NO breath test in the Keys while the Appellate courts sort the mess out.

Hersch then filed one of these motions in each of the county court divisions here in Dade.

The Dade SAO, in fulfillment of their mandate to seek justice, immediately moved to strike the motions and have them denied without a hearing.

There is a hearing Thursday, January 14, 2010, before Judge Bloom in Courtroom 6-8 at 1:00 PM on (believe it or not) whether there should be hearing on these motions? (And we wonder why people dislike lawyers so much. Only we set hearings on the issue of whether we should have a hearing on a motion).

Six of the other County Court judges who have similar motions pending in their division have been invited, although there is no truth to the rumor that the FACDL is catering the event with wine and cheese. The specter of Hersch's scimitar-like legal arguments, ably assisted by the lovely and equally talented Lasonya, will have to replace the glow of a crisp chardonnay with a slab of brie.

What's at stake, if you believe the MADD-Puppett SAOs is nothing less than the future of the free world.

What's really at stake is whether the people who stuff those hamsters in machines and call them accurate, scientific and in full compliance with the regulations of the State of Florida and the Federal Government can continue to get away with the "you'll just have to trust us that it works" argument. How long are the Judges of Florida going to let a two bit corporation from Kentucky tell them "tough" when it comes to issues like discovery on the source code for the machines?

Hersch is mad as hell and won't take it any longer. How about you? Show your support for the DUI defense lawyers by showing up in 6-8 Thursday at 1pm. The more people the prosecutors have to make their ridiculous arguments in front of, the more embarrassed they might be.

OK. That's all. Dismissed.

And remember...there's gold in them there misdemeanors.