Michael Kramer, Attorney at law

1311 Mamaroneck Ave
Suite 340
White Plains, NY 10605
mk@michaelkramerlaw.com

Call for a Free, 20-min,
Traffic Ticket Strategy Session

(914) 709-7161

Michael Kramer, Attorney at law

Interviewer: What sort of experts would you utilize in a DWI case?

Michael Kramer: If it’s the field sobriety tests, the most ideal situation would be if you hire a former police officer who was in charge of implementing these tests for a particular police agency. He could listen to the arresting police officer testify as to the instructions he gave and how he came to his conclusions and then can testify to all the instances where the arresting police officer did not follow proper procedure.

When it comes to chemical tests, such as Breathalyzer tests there are experts who know the intricacies of the Breathalyzer unit and can be called to testify about the calibrations of the machine, the history of repairs that are supposed to be and examine the certification of the particular police officer who’s giving these tests. They may be able to discover evidence to dispute the accuracy of the readings of a Breathalyzer.

Hiring Expert Witnesses Does Increase the Cost of a DWI Defense

The problem for the average motorist in defending a DWI case is it is expensive enough when it comes to court fees, fines, assessments, evaluations, and attorney’s fees. Now you have to add on to that expert witness fees and it again becomes a situation of the people with the financial means getting better results than those who are not wealthy.

Interviewer: I’m pretty sure that there are some attorney’s that are willing to work with the fees as far as payment structures and options like that.

Michael Kramer: Correct, however expert witnesses usually want money up front and their fees are minimum $2500 to $3500, usually $2500 to examine the evidence and another $1500, $2000 per day in testifying. That has to be paid up front plus whatever arrangement you have for attorney’s fees. Most are hard working people and they just don’t have that kind of money.

In those situations, you need a DWI attorney with even more expertise to defend you without an expert, based on the lack of evidence and adept cross examination of the arresting police officer, thus casting doubt on his conclusions.

Michael Kramer, Esq.

Call for a Free, 20-min,
Traffic Ticket Strategy Session
(914) 709-7161