ZLF CLIENT FACING 1-2 YEAR JAIL SENTENCE WITH NO HOUSE ARREST FOUND NOT-GUILTY

On October 4, 2015, a ZLF client with over 30 years of professional experience was involved in a minor motorcycle accident, where he struck a telephone pole with his bike. There was no property damage or injury to the client or anyone else. Testing on the Datamaster intoxilyzer revealed that his BAC was a .095% within two hours of operation. He was originally charged with two counts of lowest tier DUI for having a BAC between a .08-.10% and for general impairment, along with driving on a suspended license with a BAC above a .02%.

The mandatory minimum for the lowest tier offenses was a 10-20 day jail sentence. However, after the preliminary hearing, the District Attorney's office added a DUI Accident count, effectively increasing the mandatory minimum to 1-2 years. Under Pennsylvania Law, a person charged with a 4th offense DUI within the last ten years cannot get house arrest, and must serve their time in county or state prison.

Despite completing inpatient rehabilitation, our client was facing the loss of his home, career and liberty. After a 1 day non-jury trial, the client was found not-guilty of the DUI accident charge, sparing him from a 1-2 year prison sentence. He was convicted of the two lowest tier DUI charges. At sentencing, the court imposed a period of house arrest to be served at the lowest tier DUI offenses and the driving on a suspended license charge.

This result helped our client continue to advance in his career while seeking the treatment he needs to stay on the right path.