Newsletters

Warrantless Searches of Motor Vehicle Occupants

In the ordinary case, a search of private property must be both reasonable and conducted pursuant to a properly issued search warrant. However, law enforcement officers are empowered to search an automobile without a warrant, so long as it can be demonstrated that exigent circumstances rendered the obtaining of a warrant an impossible or impractical alternative and that probable cause existed for the search. The doctrine was initially premised on the notion that there was a constitutional difference between houses and cars, which are inherently mobile. However, mobility is no longer the prime justification for the automobile exception; rather, it is the diminished expectation of privacy which surrounds the automobile.

Criminal Offense of Failure to Assist an Injured Person

Motorists involved in any type of motor vehicle accident where personal injury or death occurs are required to remain at the scene until police arrive. All states have statutes setting out certain procedures a motorist must follow after involvement in a collision causing death or injury. Moreover, the statutes treat the term "accident" or "collision" to include all automobile collisions, intentional as well as unintentional.

Double Jeopardy Defense in DWI/DUI Cases

Drunk driving defendants have challenged the constitutionality of the states' dual use of administrative license suspension (ALS) statutes and criminal driving while intoxicated (DWI) prosecutions with the so-called Double Jeopardy Drunk Driving defense.

Criminal Offense of Defective Equipment on a Motor Vehicle

Because an improperly maintained motor vehicle threatens a grave risk of serious bodily harm or death, the maintenance of a vehicle is of the utmost importance to the driving public. The responsibility for minimizing that risk or compensating for the failure to do so properly rests with the person who owns and operates the vehicle. Accordingly, state vehicle codes usually declare that it is unlawful for any person to drive a vehicle unless it is in such safe mechanical condition that its operation on the highway will not endanger the driver, a passenger, or any other person on the highway. Thus, these codes impose a duty upon the operator to see to it that the vehicle is properly equipped as to maintain control and pose no menace to other traffic on the highway.

Defendant's Right to a Jury Trial in DUI/DWI Cases

A defendant who has been charged with driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) does not necessarily have a right to a jury trial. Whether a defendant has the right to a jury trial will depend upon the state.