Seattle DUI attorneys and Seattle criminal defense lawyers alike spend their careers defending those individuals accused of committing crime in Washington State. It is a tough job – battling the government and protecting the principles of our constitution, both state and federal. Generally the odds are not in a defendant’s favor. Sometimes even the innocent are convicted. Our system, however, has checks and balances built into it. It is hoped that such a system will right any wrong.
In 2010 27 convictions alone were exonerated or otherwise overturned in the United States of America. At least
three Washington State men were cleared through post-conviction DNA evidence testing. Ted Bradford was cleared of a 1995 rape in Yakima after falsely confessing to the rape. Larry Davis and Alan Northrop were both cleared of raping a woman in Clark County after it was determined that they were wrongly identified as the attackers. The men spent 15 years in prison.
Many faulty convictions can be attributed to witness misidentification, faulty forensic science and misconduct by police and/or prosecutors. Forensic science problems have in fact affected numerous DUI cases in Washington State since 2008 and beyond. Both Seattle DUI attorneys and Bellevue DUI attorneys have successfully contested the admissibility of breath tests in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties due to systemic and continuous problems at the Washington State Toxicology lab. Many courts in Western Washington have suppressed breath tests based on these allegations raised by Seattle DUI attorneys and Bellevue DUI attorneys.
Clearing people wrongly convicted is not just important for the individual who is wrongly convicted, but it is also important for the overall integrity of our criminal justice system. Citizens must be able to trust that our criminal justice system is doing the best it can to separate the innocent from the guilty, and more importantly citizens must have confidence that mistakes will be fixed when they are uncovered.
If you or a loved one is faced with a DUI or some other criminal charge in Western Washington, you deserve the assistance of a reputable and qualified Seattle criminal attorney who will relentlessly defend your case. You deserve a Seattle criminal lawyer who has an intimate understanding of Washington criminal laws and the legal issues that could win your case. You deserve a Seattle criminal attorney who is not afraid to stand up against the prosecution and aggressively fight for your rights and interests. SQ Attorneys is the right Western Washington criminal law firm for the job. Call for a free initial consultation – (206) 441.0900 (Seattle); (425) 998-8384 (Eastside) – it will be the best decision you make all day.