Burden of Proof on Felony Idaho DUI's - Prior DUI Offenses

On September 5, 2013 the Idaho Court of Appeals in State v Schall clarified that, in felony Idaho DUI cases, the State has the burden of proving that the DUI offenses leading up to the felony charge are "substantially conforming" to Idaho DUI law. The State has to meet this burden of proof at the time of the preliminary hearing in order for the Magistrate Judge to bind the Defendant over to District Court on the felony charges. The Court indicated that "the magistrate at the preliminary hearing must make the initial legal determination whether the foreign statute is substantially conforming, for without that determination there can be no probable cause for a felony offense and the case may not be bound over to the district court." (See http://www.isc.idaho.gov/opinions/39891.pdf, page 8.)

As a practical point, for a person facing felony Idaho DUI charges, it is important possibly essential to hold a preliminary hearing and make the State (i.e. prosecuting attorney) meet their burden of proving all of the elements of the Idaho DUI charge including any "substantially conforming" prior DUI charges. Simply waiving the preliminary hearing without making the state prove the elements of an Idaho DUI offense may result in the inability to challenge the charge on this issue at a later date. Make sure to have a detailed discussion with your attorney or public defender prior to waiving a preliminary hearing.

What Does the Prosecutor Have to Prove to Convict Me of DUI? - Probable Cause

PROBABLE CAUSE

Police officers must make a finding of probable cause to stop the driver of a motor vehicle in a DUI case.  If the officers lacked sufficient cause, any evidence obtained as a result of the stop, which would likely include all evidence except observations of driving, must be suppressed by the Court.  Any request for suppression must be made within 28 days of entering a plea of not guilty.  If probable cause for the stop existed, the prosecution still must justify the investigatory detention. Again, if there are insufficient facts to warrant detaining the driver beyond a temporary stop, then it may be possible to suppress the evidence. If successful, this will suppress all evidence but observations and statements made during the brief stop. Finally, if there existed probable cause to detain the individual for a field investigation, the officers still must show evidence of intoxication to warrant an arrest.   The prosecution’s failure to meet these standards of probable cause may result in a judge suppressing all evidence obtained after the driver establishes a failure to find probable cause.  Please consult an Idaho DUI attorney because there are also numerous Idaho and federal cases that interpret “probable cause”.