2200 Cranberry Highway
West Wareham, MA 02576
Clerk’s Office
Phone 508-295-8300
Fax 508-291-6376
James Geraghty’s recent cases in Wareham District Court:
April 2016
The officer reported that he stopped the client after watching him turn and accelerate extremely fast, drift right toward the officer’s cruiser and then swerve left to the left crossing over the centerline to avoid hitting the officer’s cruiser. The officer stated the client was smoking a cigarette and had glassy eyes and slurred speech. The officer further stated that after asking the client to put out his cigarette and once the smoke had dissipated, he could smell an odor of alcohol and when asked, the client admitted to having “a few” drinks. The officer reported the client stumbled while walking to the rear of his car, failed the walk and turn field sobriety test and after his fifth attempt at the one leg stand field sobriety test, the officer stated he stopped the test for the client’s safety because he lost his balance so much the officer believed he was going to fall and hurt himself. CASE DISMISSED
June 2015
The officer reported that he saw the client speed past him and when the officer turned on his lights signaling the client to stop, he appeared to accelerate. The officer stated he eventually stopped the client and even though there was enough room to pull into the breakdown lane, the client stopped straddling the fog line. The officer further reported the clients eyes were red, there was an odor of alcohol coming from the car and he had slurred speech. The officer stated that the client also said the alphabet with a thick tongue and slurred speech while swaying back and forth, failed the walk and turn and one leg stand field sobriety tests and could not understand the instructions of the finger-to-nose test. CASE DISMISSED
The officer testified he was posted at a road closure when the client approached and then stopped for thirty seconds. The officer further testified that when he began to exit his cruiser to explain the closure, the client went around his cruiser in the opposite lane of travel and despite the officer’s shouting at the client to stop, he continued down the closed street. The officer stated he then got in his cruiser and stopped the client and when he pulled along side the client and asked where he was going, the client responded with slurred, thick speech, smelled strongly of alcohol, denied drinking and struggled to find his license and registration. The officer testified that he saw the client wiping a travel mug with a napkin, noticed the client was unsteady on his feet upon exiting his car, and when the officer returned to the client’s vehicle after placing him under arrest, saw partially melted ice cubes on the floor mat and smelled an alcoholic beverage in the travel mug. NOT GUILTY
May 2014
The officer testified that he stopped the client for failing to stop at a red light and noticed he had bloodshot, red and glassy eyes, was speaking with a thick tongue, had extremely slurred speech, was making unintelligible statements and smelled an overwhelming odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. The officer stated the client nearly fell over while exiting and had to be grabbed to help him regain his balance, stumbled and used his car for balance while walking, kept leaning against the car after being told multiple times not to, and was swaying from side to side uncontrollably. The officer further testified the client was uncooperative during the booking process. NOT GUILTY
January 2014
The officer testified that the client was traveling in the middle of two westbound lanes when it veered into the eastbound lanes traveling directly towards the front of the officer’s cruiser. The officer stated the car then abruptly took a left hand turn, and crossed over the center line several times. The officer testified the client had wet vomit running down the driver side door, had a suspended driver’s license, smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot and glassy eyes, slightly slurred speech and admitted drinking two beers 30 minutes prior. The officer stated the client was unsteady on his feet while getting out of his car, failed the walk and turn and one leg stand field sobriety tests and could not count backwards as instructed. NOT GUILTY
Client is driving home on Route 44 in Middleboro during a snowstorm and losses control of their vehicle, skidding 200 feet of the roadway into several trees. Client is trapped inside of vehicle and has to be extricated from the vehicle with the jaws of life by the local fire department. As the client is being treated by the first responders, client is interviewed by the police who observed the client to have slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on their breath. Client is taken to the hospital for treatment and is summonsed into court for a charged of Operating Under the Influence. TRIAL VERDICT – NOT GUILTY.