Plea to an amended count of improper passing as a petty misdemeanor (a non-crime). Client passed a vehicle in his lane on a county road, causing the vehicle approaching in the other to pull over onto the shoulder. When pulled over, he was detected of having alcohol in his system and even blew a .08 in the PBT on the side of the road. Luckily, the cop didn't arrest him for a DWI, but instead issued a justified careless driving citation. With trial approaching, Mr. Gempeler pushed back on the prosecutor, explaining the lack of a DWI charge makes this all about driving conduct and that there were issues with the careless driving at trial. While it was a coin-flip, at best for the defense, the persistence paid off with a plea to a driving infraction, non-crime. This outcome avoiding creating a criminal record and assure the client he would not face employment consequences for a job that requires a good driving record. In all, the North Star team successfully pushed back on a DWI/Careless Driving and obtained a traffic ticket outcome.

Case dismissed on the day of the court trial. The client was alleged to have committed a serious traffic offense due to his excessive speed. At the pre-trial, the North Star team successfully negotiated with the prosecutor in convincing them that this was not a careless driving case simply due to the excessive speed. And despite all of the North Star team's efforts to negotiate prior to trial, the State was unrelenting in moving off of the excessive speed charge, which would result in a six-month revocation. Ready for trial, the North Star team pushed and the State had to dismiss the case due to witness problems.

Stay of adjudication to the speeding charge alone and the reckless driving charge is dismissed entirely. The client was caught going damn near 100 mph and changing lanes during moderate traffic. Video caught the entirety of the situation, leaving no meaningful defenses. Despite that, Mr. Gempeler was able to negotiate this fantastic result that leads to no conviction for a client that was remorseful for his actions.

Stay of adjudication for six months and minimal obligations while on probation. The client had an Agriculture license that permitted him to drive before turning 16, but he had a bit of a lead foot. And he was caught going 100+ mph not just on the day of the offense, but, according to the officer, he had done so a few times prior. Mr. Gempeler was still able to negotiate an outcome to keep his juvenile record conviction free - which is always a great outcome, especially for such a young man.

Continuance for dismissal. Client caused a chain reaction accident and all of the evidence confirmed she was at fault - including an admission by the client. Armed with no defenses, the North Star team obtained reactive steps by the client to address some of the underlying petty offenses - such as installing car seats as required again. And with some savvy negotiations, Mr. Gempeler obtained this fantastic result for a client who was concerned about creating a criminal record from an accident and all the negative collateral consequences that come from it. Now with a continuance for dismissal, she will have no conviction or formal acknowledgment of guilt on the record.

Dismissed. The client was alleged to have not moved over for a cop on a two-lane road (which is completely false) and then is alleged to have yelled something at the cop, prompting him to give chase. Once he was pulled over, the cop immediately arrested the client and then made up an allegation of possible impairment to justify the actions to that point. But the video showed the cop was wildly unjustified in his conduct and failed to get a warrant for the breath test - which is necessary for a mere underage drinking and driving charge. Long story short, the State dismissed the entire case prior to the contested hearing. Doing so shows just how egregious the cop's conduct was and why the fight by Mr. Gempeler and the North Star team was so critical for the client.

Successfully convinced the court - over State objection - to reopen the conviction from the speeding ticket and then negotiated - at length - to finally get the prosecutor to agree to an amended speed less than 100 mph, thereby avoiding any further revocation. The client unwittingly paid the speeding ticket, not knowing doing so led to the costly 6-month revocation for going in excess of 100 mph. So he retained Mr. Gempeler to try to re-open the case and then figure out a resolution that avoided the revocation. This is no small task, especially with a prosecutor that was proving to be less than caring and unwilling to negotiate or work with Mr. Gempeler. After getting the judge to re-open the case (no small task, in and of itself), Mr. Gempeler then had to set the matter for trial to continue negotiations. Finally, at the courthouse on the day of trial, Mr. Gempeler's persistence paid off with the client getting the outcome sought from the beginning. No matter the severity of the case, we work hard for our clients to get the just results they deserve.

Plea to an amended speeding ticket of 99 in a 60. The client was alleged to have gone 127 mph. At the first few hearings, the prosecutor would not agree to any plea deal due to the high speed. Yet, we persisted. And on the doorstep of a court trial, the prosecutor finally agreed to this plea deal, which avoids the 6-month revocation that is required upon a conviction for 100+ mph. This was exactly the goal in navigating the case and in our plea negotiations. Once again, the North Star team pushes through and gets the outcome needed.