First Offense DUI Dismissed — Unlawful Traffic Stop in Burbank

What Happened

S.L. was pulled over late at night on a Burbank street by a patrol officer who claimed to have observed her vehicle weaving within its lane. She was subsequently subjected to field sobriety tests, a breathalyzer, and was arrested and charged with DUI under both VC 23152(a) — driving under the influence — and VC 23152(b) — driving with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher.

As a licensed nurse, S.L. knew that a DUI conviction would trigger an automatic review of her nursing license by the California Board of Registered Nursing. She contacted KN Law Firm the morning after her arrest.

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. A traffic stop is a seizure under the law and must be supported by reasonable articulable suspicion that a traffic violation or crime has occurred. If the stop is unlawful, everything that follows — field sobriety tests, breathalyzer results, and officer observations — is inadmissible under the exclusionary rule.

Attorney Chris immediately requested all available dashcam and bodycam footage through the discovery process. When the footage arrived it told a very different story than the officer’s report. The vehicle was traveling in a straight and controlled manner with no observable weaving or erratic movement. The stated basis for the stop simply did not exist.

A motion to suppress was filed arguing that the traffic stop lacked reasonable suspicion. The court agreed. With all evidence stemming from the unlawful stop suppressed, the prosecution had nothing left to work with and dismissed all charges against S.L.

The Defense Strategy

We filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained during the traffic stop arguing that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to pull our client over. The officer's report cited "weaving within the lane" as the basis for the stop — but dashcam footage obtained through discovery showed the vehicle traveling in a straight line with no erratic movement. The court granted the suppression motion and without the field sobriety test results, breathalyzer reading, and officer observations the prosecution had no case and dismissed all charges.

What This Meant for the Client

The client was a nursing professional whose career would have been ended by a DUI conviction. With the case dismissed she kept her nursing license, her job, and her clean record. She was able to apply for expungement of the arrest record shortly after.

Charges Involved