Our client’s vehicle was followed by a police officer for several blocks in the City of Richfield. Following the stop, our client was arrested and charged with two counts of gross misdemeanor DWI.  We challenged the stop of our client’s car, arguing that the officer lacked a lawful basis to conduct the stop.  The hearing on the motion generated a transcript 70 pages in length, and we offered 30 exhibits at the hearing, consisting of the squad recording and various aerial and topographical photographs of the roadway.  After the hearing, we submitted over 25 pages of written legal argument to the presiding judge.  The hard work paid off.  In a 10-page order, the judge wrote as follows:

[The officer] provided contradictory, equivocal testimony and was motivated to stop [our client] for a DWI, which impaired his credibility. His initial account of the alleged centerline violation provided in his written report, changed on cross examination to fit the video evidence. Also, after having previously testified that the squad-car video did not show the alleged traffic violations, he stated several times on cross-examination that he could not recall where he observed the alleged traffic violations without first seeing the squad-video. For these and other reasons, the Court does not believe that [the officer] actually observed the two traffic violations that he alleged [our client] committed.

In the end, the judge suppressed all evidence stemming from the unlawful traffic stop, and dismissed our client’s case in its entirety.