May 28, 2013 | Criminal Defense, Drug Crimes and Controlled Substances Defense, DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A group of teenagers and young adults were cited with underage drinking, while another man was charged with drug possession after 
deputies ran into a party in Rock Hill this past Saturday. This occurred after midnight when deputies were called to Alpha Street, just off Ebenezer Road, after reports about a large house party. Further, according to the police report, several teens were seen running into a wooded area near the house.
For the teens and young adults who were captured, police issued courtesy and juvenile summons; the kids were aged 15 to 20 years old. While carrying on the investigation, a deputy learned that there might be marijuana inside a silver Honda parked in front of the house. When police approached the car, they found a man asleep inside.
The young man reported to deputies that he was the designated driver for the night and did not consume any alcohol. However, deputies thereafter searched the car and found a marijuana grinder, a glass jar of marijuana, two metal tubes, and a glass bong inside a leather bag in the glove compartment. Police arrested him for simple possession of marijuana.
If you or a loved one has been charged with a drinking related, or drug related crime in Rock Hill, South Carolina, or anywhere else in the region, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP. You can contact our Baxter Village office located in Fort Mill South Carolina for a confidential consultation at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A Catawba, South Carolina woman was found with heroin and syringes in her purse hours before she was due to be in court. This occurred after
police were called to a Rolling Ridge Road home where a 22-year-old was suffering from an overdose. The 21-year-old suspect was viewed by police attempting to help the other woman to her feet; and, thereafter she was taken to the hospital.
Police found that the woman was wanted by the state Department of Probation and Parole, and when officers searched the woman’s purse, they found a syringe filled with a clear liquid. The woman further asked officers not to arrest her because she was due in court in a few hours. She was charged with possession of heroin; vials of anabolic steroids werealso later found in the house where the incident took place.
The court proceeding was in reference to an incident where the woman and her sister were found in a Rock Hill motel room using heroin and hydrocodone after she was accused of stealing a man’s gun while they were at his house. And, if this is all is not enough, the woman also received a grand larceny charge two years ago; this is what put her on probation in the first place.
If you or a loved one has been charged with a criminal offense in North or South Carolina, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Charlotte, North Carolina office at 704-499-9000, or our South Carolina office at 803-548-4444.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
The National Traffic Safety Board has initiated a recent program called “the Sniffer.” This recommendation has been overshadowed by 
another recent recommendation that proposes to decrease BAC levels from 0.08% to 0.05%. However, the second (“Sniffer) recommendation may also have serious implications if enacted.
“The Sniffer” relates to the high visibility enforcement of DWI laws that have been enacted recently such as well publicized media campaigns, visible enforcement efforts such as saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints, and swift and certain penalties for drivers arrested for DWI. Now, none of these adequately explain the Sniffer. What is the Sniffer?
When officers employ traditional methods of determining driving impairment at a sobriety checkpoint, only about half of all drivers with BAC’s above the legal limit are identified. The NTSB has recommended that officers use passive alcohol sensors which can tip them off to the presence of alcohol. These sensors are housed within a flashlight or a clipboard and they detect alcohol vapor sampling the drivers exhaled breath, as well as the air in the car. Further, it analyzes the sample for alcohol and provides some information about the relative amount of alcohol detected.
The display on the Sniffer ranges from green to red, corresponding to BAC ranges, and they have been used by law enforcement officers across the country for years. In the past, however, law enforcement officers have been prevented from using the device to determine probable cause that a driver has committed an implied-consent offense. Now the question is whether the Sniffer, if implemented, is a violation of one’s Fourth Amendment rights.
Various techniques that are already in place to detect whether someone has been drinking such as an officer’s own personal perceptions, it may not be too difficult for the NC legislature to enact passive alcohol screening devices. However, the fact that the device is held within inches of a potential offenders face may be similar to a dog sniff of a person; and the fact that the device detects from within the car may also add some legal implications.
The constitutional inquiry may also implicate the US Supreme Court case, Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001), where law enforcement use of a thermal imaging device to detect heat within a private home implicated the Fourth Amendment. The holding stated that “obtaining sense-enhancing technology information regarding the interior of a home that could not have otherwise been obtained without physical intrusion into a constitutionally protected area is a search, at least where ‘the technology in question is not in general public use.'” Therefore, the major question is whether the heat sensing technology in Kyllo is similar to the alcohol sensing devices and thus not in general public use.
If you have been charged with a DWI in North Carolina, or a DUI in South Carolina contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP for a confidential consultation. You can contact our North Carolina office at 704-499-9000, or our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
Rock Hill police officers were led on a foot pursuit of a suspected shoplifter as he fled from the Rock Hill Dollar General last Thursday. The 
police report indicates that the man was found with soap and underwear after an employee reported that a man wearing all black went into the store on Cherry Road with a blue bag and stuffed items within before leaving.
The employee, who filed the police report, stated that the accused shoplifter became defensive as he was walking to the front door of the store. Before chase ensued, the man attempted to hand the items to a woman in the parking lot who immediately returned them to the store. Thereafter, the man bolted. The police chased the suspect through a parking lot; from the parking lot to a field; and, from the field into a residential neighborhood where the suspect was apprehended. The 25-year-old man is being charged with his third shoplifting offense, which could potentially be a felony.
If you have been charged with a shoplifting or any other criminal offense in York County, Lancaster County, or Chester County, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
May 22, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A North Carolina man has been charged with driving under the influence and indecent exposure after police report that he urinated outside
of the York Intermediate School last Monday afternoon. The police arrived after a telephone call from a school resource officer, who reported that a man was standing outside of his gold Kia van urinating on the grassy field outside of the school.
When officers arrived, they found the 44-year-old Gastonia, North Carolina man inside of the van. Police report that when they commanded the man to exit the car, he ignored such commands, and finally opened the car door. Inside the vehicle, police found two cans of Bud Light and a can of Four Loko alcohol.
As the man was questioned by officers, he was reported to have slurred speech and was “swaying back and forth.” The report further states that as the man was attempting to pull his wallet from his back pocket, he nearly toppled over. After this activity took place, police administered a few breath-tests, and the man was thereafter arrested. He was charged with violation of an open container law, indecent exposure, and DUI, and is being held at the York County Detention Center.
Police arrested Hensley, charging him with open container, indecent exposure and driving under the influence, according to his booking report. He is currently held at the York County Detention Center.
If you have been charged with a DUI or DUI related charge, call the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
May 22, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A Simpsonville man is facing felony DUI charges after a wreck that killed another man, and injured his daughter. This occurred just after 8:00
p.m. on Lee Vaughn Road, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Troopers report that a 24-year-old man has been charged with felony DUI involving death and felony DUI involving great bodily injury.
The victims were operating a 2001 Toyota when the 1994 Dodge pick-up driven by the suspect collided with them. The suspect made a right hand turn, lost control of his truck, and then over-corrected striking the right side door of the Toyota. Both of the victims were wearing seat-belts at the time. The driver of the Dodge was also brought to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. He is facing felony DUI charges.
If you or a loved one has been charged with DUI or felony DUI, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444, or toll free at 877-374-5999.
