Mr. Zebediah drove his wife and 1-year-old son home from a party in the couple’s minivan. His wife, who did not know how to drive, was angry that Mr. Zebediah had consumed alcohol at the party. The couple started to fight, and Mrs. Zebadiah, unaware of how dangerous her actions were, grabbed the steering wheel, causing Mr. Zebediah to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle ran into a two-foot-high stone wall at the entrance to a subdivision, then flipped over the top of the wall and landed on its roof.

The child, despite being secured in an appropriate child safety seat, nevertheless suffered a closed head injury which fortunately did not result in any permanent damage. Police obtained a warrant and drew Mr. Zebediah’s blood, which test returned a .19 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), nearly two and a half times the legal limit. Mr. Zebediah was charged with DWI, intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and was facing up to 20 years in prison.

John Fahle represented Mr. Zebediah, and Ling Han sat second chair. After a week-long jury trial, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the charges of intoxication assault and DWI, and a guilty on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon. When interviewed later, the jurors stated that they agreed with Mr. Fahle that the State had failed to prove Mr. Zebediah was intoxicated AT THE TIME HE WAS DRIVING, despite a blood draw two hours later showing his BAC to be .19. The jury did find that Mr. Zebediah had committed reckless aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by failing to adequately control the vehicle, and after a lengthy sentencing hearing they sentenced him to five years probation.