Tracey Wood & Associates - Criminal Defense and Immigration Law

Defense Attorney Tracey Wood Drunk Driving Attorney Tracey Wood is a Super Lawyer in Wisconsin
(608) 350-1004

     Attorney Tracey A. Wood , owner of Tracey Wood & Associates is an aggressive criminal defense attorney in Madison, Wisconsin.    She focuses her practice on defending the rights of individuals whether they are charged with drunken driving or more severe criminal charges including murder, sex crimes in Wisconsin, federal conspiracy or seeking an expungement of a previous conviction.
   She is known throughout the legal community as the foremost authority on Wisconsin OWI DUI laws and has been hailed for her defenses and successful trial and case record.
   Ms. Wood has been pioneering new frontiers for women in law since she entered practice in 1992. She is the first attorney from Wisconsin ever appointed as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor, and first Wisconsin attorney to be appointed to the Board of Regents to the National College for DUI Defense held at Harvard Law School. She chairs the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Strike Force for the state's largest association for criminal defense lawyers and has previously served as the President of that organization. She has authored several articles on defense against drunk driving charges including Challenging Prior Under Influence Convictions, an article discussing U.S. v. Gant in the Wisconsin Law Journal, and she has contributed to the national DUI attorneys' bible by Taylor & Oberman, entitled "Drunk Driving Defense".
   She has also won many appeals in both the Wisconsin Appellate System (most recently City of Beloit v. Steven Herbst) and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago (i.e. U.S. v. Andres Perez).

Super Lawyer Tracey Wood defends people charged with OWI or DUI
Super Lawyer Tracey Wood defends people charged with OWI or DUI
Super Lawyer Tracey Wood defends people charged with OWI or DUI
NCDD National College for DUI Defense: Tracey Wood
(608) 350-1004

Arizona -vs- Gant


Tracey Wood & Associates
Wisconsin Criminal Defense Lawyers


Arizona -vs- gant


Illegal Search & Seizure In OWI Arrest


By Tracey A. Wood, attorney at law

     "In Arizona v. Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710 (2009), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a police policy of searching the vehicle of every person arrested, without consideration of whether there is any danger to police or whether evidence will likely be found in the vehicle.
     In other words, under the Supreme Court ruling, vehicle searches incident to arrest are no longer automatically valid in Wisconsin once the arrestee is handcuffed and placed in the back of the squad car.

How does the Gant decision apply to drunken driving cases?


     Under the Arizona vs. Gant ruling, unless police can point to specific reasons that they believe evidence related to the crime of arrest may be found in the vehicle, police may not search the vehicle. If contraband is found in vehicles unrelated to the drunken driving arrest, it will lead to other charges, such as possession of controlled substances.
     In cases where this is done, defense counsel should be filing a motion to suppress all evidence found as a result of the search. This applies to arrests prior to Gant, as well as current ones, since the Gant court simply explained that courts and police have been reading the law incorrectly in the past – the Court did not state a new rule.
     There is long-standing precedent governing the applicability of a new Supreme Court rule announced while a case is still pending – any case that was not concluded when Gant was announced is subject to the ruling.
     Moreover, the Gant court did not permit a “good faith defense” to the unlawful search in that case. Thus, a good faith analysis may not save these searches.
     Wisconsin has permitted a good faith exception in some cases involving police relying on warrants that have later been found to be faulty; however, there is no Wisconsin case applying a good faith analysis to a case where there was no warrant.
     There is also 7th Circuit caselaw for the proposition that good faith does not matter when dealing with searches that are not based on a warrant. (U.S. v. 15324 County Highway E, 332 F.3d 1070 (7th Cir. 2003).)
     In that case, the court stated: “We decline to extend further the applicability of the good-faith exception to evidence seized during law enforcement searches conducted in naked reliance upon subsequently overruled case law.”
     Some police agencies, such as the Wisconsin State Patrol, have changed their policies with respect to searches incident to arrests for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. But other police agencies are still conducting these searches after all arrests.
     The result is that a lot more litigation can be expected in the area of searches and drunk driving arrests. "

Free but professional "first-impression" analysis

If you are under investigation or have been arrested for any crime, or if you have already been convicted of a crime and believe your conviction to be wrong or your sentence too harsh, please call (608) 350-1004 or email the Attorneys at Tracey Wood & Associates right away. An Attorney at Tracey Wood & Associates will provide you with a brief but professional free "first-impression" analysis of your appeal based on the facts that you are able to convey. You can also submit your case online or email the attorneys.




OWI DUI Attorney Tracey Wood commonly works in the following Counties: Adams, Ashland,Barron,Bayfield,Brown,Buffalo,Burnett,Calumet,Chippewa,Clark,Columbia,Crawford,Dane,Dodge,Door,Douglas,Dunn,Eau Claire,Florence,Fond du Lac,Forest, Grant,Green,Green Lake,Iowa,Iron,Jackson,Jefferson,Juneau,Kenosha,Kewaunee,La Crosse,Lafayette,Langlade,Lincoln,Manitowoc,Marathon,Marinette,Marquette,Menominee, Milwaukee,Monroe,Oconto,Oneida,Outagamie,Ozaukee,Pepin,Pierce,Polk,Portage,Price,Racine,Richland,Rock,Rusk,Sauk,Sawyer,Shawano,Sheboygan,St. Croix,Taylor,Trempealeau, Vernon,Vilas,Walworth,Washburn,Washington,Waukesha,Waupaca,Waushara,Winnebago,Wood

Please take notice that although the law firm of Tracey Wood & Associates website contains a large amount of accurate and useful legal information about drunk driving, OWI, DUI, Sex Crimes, Expungement and other serious crimes, it is not intended to be used as legal advice. Only an attorney can counsel you on your specific case. Please contact the attorney at Tracey Wood & Associates immediately should you find yourself charged with a Drunk Driving in Wisconsin, a DUI (Driving Under the Influence), OWI (Operating Under the Influence) or any other serious crime in Wisconsin at (608) 350-1004. Even if your researching drunk driving laws or sex crime laws in Wisconsin, Lawyer Tracey Wood can assist you.

Attorney Tracey A. Wood , 6605 University Ave Suite 101 Middleton Wisconsin. (608) 350-1004

OWI DUI Sex Crimes Expungement Defense Lawyer Attorney Tracey Wood