Criminal defense attorney argues “Sleep Driving” in defense of DUI

Recently, the Oregon Supreme Court decided that an individual’s rights were violated when they were not allowed an opportunity to present a defense in a DUI case. The defense that the attorney wanted to present was that the defendant was “sleep driving.” The Oregon Supreme Court found that the trial court’s decision not to allow the defense attorney to present a “sleep driving” defense was a violation of the defendant’s rights and a violation of the law. What the Oregon Supreme Court has done here is simply reinforce a staple tenant of criminal law: in order to be convicted of crime, you must commit a crime of your own volition. That is, the act of committing a crime must be a voluntary one. The criminal defense attorney in this case did a good job preserving the issue at the trial level. As a result of the work done by the criminal defense attorney, the defendant will get a new trial and he will be able to present this “sleep driving” defense in his next DUI trial. Check out the Oregonian article here.