Use those transcripts!

Posted Friday, February 22, 2013 by Andrew Charles Huff

Here is another reminder why transcripts of previous hearings can be so helpful. The arresting officer in my client’s DUI case was testifying in court about my client’s appearance and mentioned three things that didn’t quite jive. So I pulled out the transcript from the earlier DOL hearing and found that indeed, the officer gave different answers to the same questions. I then re-asked the questions of the officer and again, recieved the same answers. I then had the officer verify that he had testified earlier and informed him he previously answered the same questions differently. Once he realized this, he began backing off of his current answers so quickly I thought he was going to bolt out of the courtroom. So I began asking him if some of his other answers might be incorrect and he replied, “it’s possible.” I then asked him “which ones.” The officer actually pointed out a couple of previous answers that “upon reflection, might not be accurate.” At this point, the prosecutor asked for a brief recess (between panic attacks) and made me a very reasonable offer. Case resolved. Use those transcripts!