San Diego criminal defense attorney Jessica McElfresh recently assisted a man after a traffic stop put his driver’s license in serious jeopardy. After driving a friend home, the man went through a DUI checkpoint where the officer claimed to smell marijuana and requested that he exit the car and perform field sobriety tests. While the man has an official recommendation for medical marijuana because of a well-documented history of back issues, he claimed to have difficulty performing the sobriety tests, not because of intoxication, rather due to his physical limitations. However, the officer determined he was in fact under the influence and charged him with drugged driving. The District Attorney decided not to pursue the charge, but the officer forwarded his report to the DMV and requested they revoke the man’s license based on being a habitual drug user. Obviously, wanting to preserve his ability to drive, the man contacted McElfresh Law in his time of need.
Attorney McElfresh quickly began working to find the best possible result for her client, which led to an administrative hearing to reinstate his license, where she presented compelling evidence relating to his medical history and clear driving history. Additionally, attorney McElfresh argued that her client was, in fact, a responsible medical marijuana user because his usage pattern showed that he never uses marijuana while operating a vehicle or before. By showing the DMV all of this, combined with the fact that the stop in question was not the result of her client’s driving, rather a random stop, attorney McElfresh successfully achieved the full reinstatement of her client’s license, which spared him a considerable amount of stress and inconvenience.
The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.