Client, a 23-year-old male, is awakened at 3:30 a.m. by his girlfriend’s father who throws the client and his best friend out of his home. The client and best friend had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana all evening and had only been asleep for less than an hour. The client then drove his motor vehicle away from the home. The client, driving at 65 mph in a 25 mph zone, failed to navigate a turn at a dead end. The car crashed head-on with a large tree. The client’s friend, who is not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected through the front window and was killed instantly. The client’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit and THC was active in his blood stream when a blood draw was tested.

Marein and Bradley hired a trial consultant/jury expert to create a trial theme to attempt to avoid conviction of aggravated vehicular homicide which carried a mandatory penitentiary sentence.

At trial, Marein and Bradley emphasized the long term friendship of the client and the victim and the bizarre circumstances of the case. The jury accepted the defense argument and found the client NOT GUILTY of aggravated vehicular homicide. The client was found guilty of a lesser misdemeanor offense of vehicular homicide. The client avoided a penitentiary sentence. When the verdict was read almost every juror was in tears.