Lawyer Up! Salem, NH DWI Lawyer Mark Stevens and Guest Maine OUI Attorney John Webb

Here is a youtube clip that includes a portion of Lawyer Up !
radio with Mark Stevens. Lawyer Up! is on WCCM AM 1110 every Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. On this episdode Maine OUI defense attorney John Webb joins the discussion about a proposed New Hampshire bill that would ban hand held cell phone use while driving and allow the police to seize and search the phones of the drivers they issue citations to under this law without a warrant. Please click below to listen. I have also included a brief transcript of the program below the link.



TRANSCRIPT:
(After introductions by WCCM's Bruce Arnold):

Mark Stevens: This is "Lawyer Up" which is what you should do if the police want to talk to you.

Bruce Arnold: That's right. That's it. How long have you been practicing law Mark? Can I do an up close and nosy?

Mark Stevens: You can be as nosy as you want. I've been in practice since 1998 and I have been in my own solo practice in Salem, New Hampshire since June of 2000. I practice exclusively criminal defense and the primary focus is on DWI defense.

Bruce Arnold: And you have been busy recently I understand?

Mark Stevens: Yes I have the police have been busy arresting people and keeping us busy. It doesn't take much to get arrested for DWI in New Hampshire any more.

Bruce Arnold: Yeah what's the situation. Where do you want to go with that?

Mark Stevens: Well if you get stopped and a police officer smells any kind of beer on your breath or liquor on your breath, the chances are you're going to be arrested. That's the bottom line. It takes a lot for them to let somebody go. They usually want to field sobriety test you; most people can't pass those gymnastics and they usually end up getting arrested for DWI. Fortunately in New Hampshire we lead the country in refusals. 84% of DWI arrests refuse to blow into the breath test gadgets, so at least there's no number to fight. But we still have the FSTs and the rest of it to deal with.

Bruce Arnold: 84% that's quite high.

Mark Stevens: That's right. The only people who blow into that thing are people that have never been arrested before or don't know any better. You should carefully consider whether you want to blow into something that doesn't work very well. Consider what you're going to do before you're under pressure. Talk to a lawyer before you end up in that pressurized situation in a police station.

Bruce Arnold: We have a special guest on the phone for you right now. Good morning.

Maine OUI Attorney John Webb: Good morning Mark.

Mark Stevens: Hey this is Big John Webb calling from Maine. If you're not familiar with John, John Webb is the King of York County OUI defense. Hey I appreciate you calling in today John.

John Webb: Mark it's my pleasure I appreciate you having me on.

Mark Stevens: Listen I want to ask you a question. Have you looked at New Hampshire House Bill 546 "the cell phone ban law" for New Hampshire?

John Webb: I did have a chance to look at that, and I have to tell you my first reaction was "what happened to live free or die"? I was absolutely shocked to see that proposed law in New Hampshire. I think if you look at the 4th Amendment law across the country, as it is starting to evolve specifically as it relates to cell phones, I think for all members of law enforcement, and for the prosecutorial side and the defense side, that the next frontier is the constitutional battles that we are seeing that are setting up from New Hampshire to California.

Mark Stevens: Sure. Live Free or Die or this third alternative that this law would propose.

John Webb: Well I'm sure you're aware of the decision from California earlier this year where the California Supreme Court ruled that a cell phone is no different than a shirt or a pair of pants. Once a law enforcement person has your cell phone in their custody it's free game as far as their ability to search it like a search incident to arrest and I assume that's the direction that New Hampshire wants to go. I think the California case alone is going to set up an epic showdown in the United States Supreme Court.

Mark Stevens: Right. I agree. Because these bans are coming up across the country, but this one in particular, just gives the police carte blanche to grab your phone and look at it, for what it says in here to tell what time you made the call. But a cop with a watch that can tell time can do it with his watch rather than nosing into your business.

John Webb: Yes and I don't think there's any doubt that once you get into that cell phone that who knows what you're going to come across or once you're in there making that allegedly innocent inquiry with respect to the time of the call.

Mark Stevens: Can I ask you one more quick question while I've got you? I know you have to run into court. What do you think of the potential vagueness challenge to the "immediate proximity to the ear" language in this statute?

John Webb: I think that opens a whole nother bag of challenges; it is unbeleivable vague. There's no guidelines as to how that is defined.

Mark Stevens: Thanks John. Listen I know you have to run to court. Thanks for calling in and for your inputs. Anybody who gets arrested in Maine would be smart to call John Webb of Nichols and Webb. @MaineOUI on twitter. John thank you very much.

John Webb: Thank you for your time and to every one who's listening.

Mark Stevens: Alright you have a good day.

END TAPE

New Hampshire DWI laws. Call Salem, New Hampshire criminal defense Attorney Mark Stevens today at 1-603-893-0074 for a free consultation for your New Hampshire DWI or "aggravated DWI" charges.

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