Our client was charged with a misdemeanor when his family called 911 to request an ambulance for a loved one who had accidentally overdosed on narcotics. The police arrived at the scene first, and it was apparent that the officer trying to administer lifesaving care did not know what she was doing. Our client, and his family, were all medical professionals and had to step in to help. After his family revived their loved one, the EMTs took the loved one out of the home and left him on his back while he was vomiting – putting the loved one at a high risk of aspiration. Our client yelled at the EMTs to ensure that they put the individual on his side. When they did not, our client stepped into the ambulance to demand that an advance team be present, and a police officer pointed a taser in his chest. The government – appallingly – charged him with Interfering with the Police Department!
When the prosecutor failed to dismiss the criminal charges, we demanded our client’s right to a jury trial. On the morning of the trial, the prosecutor dismissed the criminal charges in exchange for a plea to a zero-point non-abstracted civil infraction (impeding traffic).