Court Dismisses Felony DUI Charges Over Fourth Amendment Violation

A court in Idaho has dismissed the felony DUI charges brought against a man over the violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The decision was made in the right of a Supreme Court ruling that came in 2019.

The actual DUI arrest in the present case took place back in December, 2019. A man was in his parked vehicle at the parking lot of the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club. It was then that a Sun Valley police officer approached the vehicle, asked the man to step out and then put him under arrest for misdemeanor DUI.

The man was identified as Jeremy Sean Matthews, 32, of Hailey. After put under arrest, Hailey was transported to the Sun Valley Police Department so that he could undergo a breathalyzer test. According to a probable-cause affidavit submitted by the police officer, he had received reports of an intoxicated driver on the Sun Valley Road around the same time, which was why he made the arrest.

Matthews’ legal counsel argued that the conduct of the police officer violated the rights of the defendant. A decision made by the Idaho Supreme Court maintained that if an officer doesn’t have a warrant or hasn’t witnessed an offense, a misdemeanor arrest can’t be made.

After the Sun Valley police officer escorted Matthews to the police department, he underwent a breathalyzer test which revealed that he was under the influence at the time. Matthews also had prior DUI convictions which raised his DUI charge to a felony.

However, the defense argued that the results of the breathalyzer test should be suppressed as the arrest was illegally made by the police officer. Matthews was represented by the Blaine County Prosecutor’s Office which had moved the court to dismiss the case over Fourth Amendment violations. The court has not conformed to this request and the charges against Matthews have been dismissed. You should contact our Boise DUI defense attorneys right away.

Source: https://www.mtexpress.com/news/cops_courts/felony-dui-charge-dismissed-due-to-illegal-breath-test/article_3b38d0b0-aaa6-11ea-ac79-93dc2f5eaaa4.html