Traverse City Record-Eagle

Region

April 24, 2010

Soffredine lawyer talks about client's DUI

Field sobriety, preliminary breath tests necessary

BY ALEX PIAZZA Record-Eagle

TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City police officer Joseph L. Soffredine's lawyer believes field sobriety and preliminary breath tests are vital pieces of evidence needed to prove whether his client is guilty of drunken driving.

And without those results, it will be difficult to make a case the off-duty police officer was drunk when he crashed and burned his vehicle, Soffredine's attorney said.

Soffredine hired Traverse City attorney Clarence Gomery to defend him on a drunken-driving charge. Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider authorized a DUI charge last week, and plans to base his case solely on witness testimony because county deputies who responded to Soffredine's Feb. 7 early morning crash failed to test him for possible intoxication.

"This is one of the most extraordinary drunk-driving prosecutions that I've ever seen," Gomery said. "It should be a very interesting case."

Soffredine ran his Dodge Durango off Cedar Run Road in Garfield Township and subsequently burned the vehicle by revving the accelerator in an attempt to free himself.

Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies Robert Sillers and Mark Noffke responded at around 3:20 a.m., but did not administer field sobriety or preliminary breath tests. They also failed to cite Soffredine for driving with license plates that expired more than six months earlier.

"The officers are the ones that make this determination, not citizens that saw him way before the driving," Gomery said.

But Schneider said it won't be the first time he's prosecuted a drunken-driving case without a breath or blood test.

"Years before, as a young prosecutor, before we took everyone to the hospital, we did it all the time," Schneider said. "But yeah, I can remember one in the last couple of years too."

Schneider plans to rely on testimony from witnesses who saw Soffredine the night he crashed and burned his vehicle. He also said he won't rely on the two deputies' testimony.

Sheriff's officials have yet to announce disciplinary action against Sillers and Noffke.

"The importance of doing that initial work by the police agency is so critical," said Ken Malkin, chair-elect of the Michigan Bar Association's Criminal Law Section. "On an issue like this, there's no substitute for good police work at the scene. To try a case without a Breathalzyer just substantially increases the difficulty of the prosecution's burden."

Soffredine's pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in 86th District Court.

Staff Writer Brian McGillivary contributed to this report.

Text Only

Life

Sports

Business

Record-Eagle+
Unlimited access to Record-Eagle.com
 Subscribe Sign In