STANDING UP FOR YOU WITH SKILLED ADVOCACY

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s implied consent law, which is somewhat similar to that of Tennessee and many other states. In both Wisconsin and Tennessee, drivers are deemed, by virtue of driving on the state’s roads, to have consented to chemical tests for intoxication. In

Most DUI arrests and convictions are based on the results of a breath testing machine such as the Intoximeter, Intoxilyzer, Alco-Sensor or Alcotest. As a result, attorneys defending DUI cases often question the accuracy and validity of the breath test. These machines can cause inaccurate results when they are used by untrained personnel, used improperly,

Pain can make life complicated. It isn’t always visible and it can be difficult to treat. It can make everyday life difficult. When you finally reach a point where the pain is under control, it can seem like it is only a matter of time before the treatment stops working and the process will have

Whether your night out included alcohol or not, there is a moment of hesitation when you’re driving home and see a sign for a DUI roadblock ahead. With the street full of officers and patrol vehicles to enforce the roadblock, the situation gets intimidating quickly. It’s important to know the rules for both you and

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the DUI conviction in a case pursued by Summers, Rufolo & Rodgers wherein a client was charged with driving under the influence after failing a blood-alcohol test at a highway patrol roadblock in 2012. Summers, Rufolo, & Rodgers repeatedly challenged the legality of the roadblock, filing two separate motions

In an earlier post, we told you about a case our attorneys had spent years litigating that challenged the constitutionality of a fee arrangement associated with statewide DUI convictions. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) was receiving a $250 fee for every successful DUI prosecution involving blood or breath test evidence. Our attorneys argued — and

Researchers working in Washington state recently discovered fundamental flaws in the source code of a widely used Breathalyzer machine, Draeger’s “Alcotest” device. Two software engineers conducted the research at the behest of criminal defense attorneys after Washington adopted the Alcotest devices for all its state and local law enforcement agencies. The engineers didn’t examine individual

Attorneys Jerry Summers, Ben McGowan, and Marya Schalk of Summers, Rufolo & Rodgers recently won a major victory for Tennessee DUI defendants. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals found that the statute imposing a $250 fee for convictions in DUI cases where testing is done by the TBI laboratory is unconstitutional because it violates due process and

A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that someone suspected of impaired driving has the right to refuse a warrantless blood test, but not a warrantless breath test. The decision went against 13 states, including Tennessee, with so-called implied consent laws that imposed penalties on any type of test refusal. Tennessee’s amended law In

Having a driver’s license in your pocket means you are free to drive anywhere in the United States. But the state asserts the right to suspend your license if you refuse to take a breath or blood test for suspected chemical impairment. Why is that? This is due to a legal principle known as “implied