MJM Law Office, PC had the fortune of organizing the 2022 statewide Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (OCDLA) DUI defense conference this year. DUII Defense in 2022 will take place in Hood River March 4th and 5th. Oregon DUI attorneys from around the state will gather to share ideas on how to best defend DUI alcohol and controlled substances cases. DAs, prosecutors and police are barred from attending so we can openly share criminal defense tips and techniques. Below is a summary of the topics that will be covered at this year’s conference.

1. The future of traffic encounters in relation to the Arreola-Botello and McCarthy opinions. State v. McCarthy is a very important recent case in which the Oregon Supreme Court overruled the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. The automobile exception allowed for the warrantless search of a vehicle when contraband could be removed from the scene due to the mobility of a vehicle. Under McCarthy police are now required to take the time to get a warrant unless the State can provide evidence of exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search. This is big news for DUI defense lawyers because now if police conduct a warrantless search of a car, we may be able to suppress all evidence found therein. In Arreola-Botello, a 2019 case, the Oregon Supreme Court found that defense was able to suppress evidence of drugs that an officer found when conducting a warrantless search during a traffic stop. The Court determined that after police initiated the traffic stop they impermissibly expanded the scope by asking about guns and drugs rather than just issuing a traffic citation. This is another helpful case which can be used to suppress evidence when defending DUI charge.  

1. Our second presentation will cover how police use the horizontal gaze and nystagmus test (HGN) to make an assessment of whether a driver is impaired by alcohol or a CNS depressant. If you’ve ever been arrested for DUI, this is typically the first field sobriety test given where the officer asks you to look at a stimulus (typically a pen) held about 12” in front of your eyes as they move it back and forth. The officer is looking for an involuntary jerking of your eyes which can indicate impairment. There are many ways for an Oregon DUI defense lawyer to challenge the validity of this test including improper administration of the test and alternative explanations such as medical conditions.

1. Next we will cover the State v. Shevyakov case. This is one of the most important cases for defending DUIs over the last two years. Once a citizen invokes their right to a lawyer the police must cease all interrogation, including requesting a person to perform field sobriety tests or potentially even a breath test. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that asking for consent to search, including requesting a suspect to perform field sobriety tests, constitutes impermissible interrogation unless the law precludes the State from using the refusal against them at trial. The best advice I can give to a potential future client is to immediately request a lawyer during police contact if you are not free to leave. After Shevyakov, if police continue requesting field sobriety tests and a breath test after a person asks for a lawyer his attorney may be able to suppress that evidence. The practical result of this case is that once a person asks for a lawyer after a DUI stop the police will often move directly to a blood draw warrant procedure. I have personally seen how this case has changed the practices of our local Springfield and Eugene Police Departments.

1. Legendary DUI Trial Attorney John Henry Hingson III will be giving his final presentation after 50 years as an attorney defending DUIs. John Henry will transmit knowledge and give inspiration to a new generation of DUI defense lawyers, passing along pearls of wisdom from 50 years in practice. There will also be a retirement reception Friday evening sponsored by MJM Law Office, PC. For more info about John Henry see http://www.hingson.com/

1. The fifth presentation will cover DUI trial practice and creating reasonable doubt in a DUI jury trial using advanced techniques. This talk will be about the attorney’s experience trying DUI cases to a jury and engaging the jury on several different levels to achieve the best outcome. This presentation will draw on the work of Hingson, Wollam and Thummel as new DUI lawyers integrate techniques and styles of the masters and rework them into their own practice for next generation of DUI defense

1. This presentation will cover alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the older diagnosis of alcohol abuse from the DSM 5. This will cover how we as attorneys can better identify when a client is suffering from AUD and do a better job of working with them in a compassionate way to best defend their case and best help them through what is often one of the most difficult times in their life as their DUI case works through court system.

1. Oregon police use the Intoxilizer 8000 machine to obtain breath samples from suspected impaired drivers. The Intoxilizer 8000 looks like a giant fax machine from 1984 with a tube coming out of it. This presentation will cover the State’s scientific methods to validate breath test results and how to use expert witnesses to call the accuracy of the blood alcohol content (BAC) percentage obtained from a breath sample into question and create reasonable doubt in a jury.

1. Tragically in a small percentage of DUI cases people die. If somebody dies while you’re driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance you may be subject to a substantial period of incarceration. This presentation will cover how to get the DA to agree to criminally negligent homicide rather than manslaughter in this type of case. The benefit to settling your case as CrimNegHom is that a typical sentence would be 34-72 months (depending on criminal history) and eligible for good time and programs whereas a Manslaughter conviction would require a 75-120 month minimum mandatory prison sentence with no good time or programs under Measure 11.

1. Finally, we will hear about psilocybin DUIs. Now that Measures 109 and 110 have decriminalized magic mushrooms in Oregon the defense bar wants to know how to best defend clients arrested for DUIS – driving under the influence of shrooms! Measure 110 decriminalized user amounts of LSD, Psilocybin, Methadone, Oxycodone, Heroin, MDMA, Cocaine and Meth and reduced penalties for other drug crimes. Measure 109 allows a legal process for manufacturing psilocybin products and therapeutic use of this so called “food of the gods.” We will learn how police use the drug recognition evaluation (DRE) process to determine whether a driver is impaired by hallucinogens. By understanding the methods used by police to develop probable cause of DUIS we are better able to defend this type of case in court.

Overall, this should be an amazing conference and I’m looking forward to it! More information about DUII Defense in 2022 can be found here: https://ocdla.force.com/OcdlaEvent?id=a235b00000JBWVyAAP