A Mitchell County client was arrested and charged with OWI. Upon review of the jail video it was discovered that Client requested to call his attorney when asked to either consent or refuse to the Datamaster. In response the officer told Client that he had to make a decision first, then he could call his attorney, because the Datamaster was for administrative purposes and a lawyer only applied to the criminal case. This violated Client’s phone call rights. To the credit of the officer, he contacted the county attorney, advised him that he made a mistake and that the case should be dismissed. The officer also testified at the administrative hearing that he was mistaken as to how the telephone calls worked and how the request for an attorney should be applied. All charges against Client were dismissed and the revocation of his driver’s license was rescinded. Kudos to this officer for acknowledging his mistake and not trying to lie about it.
