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In the defense of a
Driving Under the
Influence case OR an
Actual Physical Control
case, there is NO
attorney in Oklahoma
that compares to Charles
L. Sifers. No matter
what the claim of any
other lawyer in Oklahoma
as to any credential,
certificate, or training
in DUI Defense, Mr.
Sifers did it first or
before that lawyer. He
certainly also has
credentials,
certificates, or
trainings to benefit a
person charged with
these crimes which that
lawyer DOES NOT
have.
Mr. Sifers was Oklahoma's
FIRST Member of the
National College for DUI
Defense. Mr. Sifers was
Oklahoma's FIRST
Sustaining Member of the
National College for DUI
Defense. Through his
efforts, MANY other lawyers
followed and became members
of this national
organization which is the
LEADER in making lawyers
better in defending persons
changed with alcohol related
traffic charges.
Mr. Sifers is the ONLY
Oklahoma Lawyer to ever be
elected to the Board of
Regents for the National
College for DUI Defense. He
was elected to the Board of
Regents of the National
College for DUI Defense on
July 26, 2000, and served
until May, 2005. Less than
40 men and women in the
world have EVER
reached this level of
recognition in the field of
DUI Defense.
He was the FIRST
lawyer in Oklahoma to be
awarded Board Certification
in DUI Defense. Mr. Sifers
was ALSO the FIRST
Regent in the U.S.
to ever sit for, and pass,
the Board Certification Test
in DUI Defense Law by the
National College for DUI
Defense (NCDD). During his
tenure on the Board, he
served as Co-Chair on the
Board Certification Testing
Committee and contributed to
the writing of the
certification test. It was
during his 2003-04 tenure as
Co-Chair of this Committee
that the American Bar
Association (ABA) recognized
DUI Defense as a "Specialty"
area of Law.
In 1996, Mr. Sifers was the
very FIRST attorney
in Oklahoma to own an
Intoxilyzer 5000. At that
time, there was probably
less than 10 lawyers in
possession of these law
enforcement machines in the
entire nation. He has been
an intense student of these
machines since 1996. He now
is a co-owner of eight of
these machines!
In 1996, Mr. Sifers became
the FIRST DEFENSE
ATTORNEY in Oklahoma to
receive CERTIFICATION &
FORMAL TRAINING as an
Operator on these
Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test
machines. These machines are
the primary testing device
in DUI Cases. Until 2000, he
was the ONLY such qualified
defense attorney. In that
year, the Oklahoma Board of
Tests for Alcohol and Drug
Influence (the Oklahoma
State agency over these
machines) held it's first
class for Certification of
NON-LAW ENFORCEMENT
Operators and Supervisors.
Mr. Sifers - and C. Jeffrey
Sifers, his son and law
partner - made up ˝ of that
training class! He has
maintained his
certifications as a breath
test Operator and
Maintenance Specialist every
year since.
In 2006, Mr. Sifers became
the FIRST defense
attorney in Oklahoma to
graduate from a formal
training course on the NEW
breath device that is coming
to Oklahoma law enforcement
any day. This new machine is
called the Intoxilyzer 8000.
The only OTHER person to
have completed that course
is his law partner, Jeff!
Mr. Sifers is the ONLY
lawyer in Oklahoma who holds
a certificate of successful
completion (May, 2003) for
the Robert F. Borkenstein
Course on
"Alcohol, Drugs, and Highway
Safety: Testing, Research,
and Litigation"
based out of Indiana
University at Bloomington.
This course is for STATE
WITNESSES to testify
against DUI offenders.
It is taught by the top
forensic scientists in the
world (Dubowski, Jones,
Forney, etc). Only a handful
of defense attorneys have
been allowed to complete
this course. And, since
Borkenstein has now been
closed to private attorneys,
no other lawyer in Oklahoma
will EVER complete it. As a
result, Mr. Sifers has been
exposed to the "other
side's" schemes unlike any
other Oklahoma lawyer. This
is a benefit to his clients
that no other attorney in
Oklahoma can offer!
Mr. Sifers has presented
papers or taught MORE
lawyers about DUI Defense
than ANY other lawyer
in Oklahoma's history. He
has literally taught 1,000's
of OTHER lawyers and/or
Judges in Oklahoma and
throughout the nation about
defending DUI cases. He has
taught in 14 states and/or
foreign countries. Click
HERE
for a list of some of his
teaching engagements.
Mr. Sifers was the FIRST
Oklahoma lawyer to speak at
Harvard's Law School on DUI
Defense through the National
College for DUI Defense. He
has been asked to do that
more than ANY other
lawyer in Oklahoma.
Mr. Sifers has written and
published MORE
articles on drunk driving
than ANY other lawyer
in this State. Here is a
list:
1. Defending DUI Cases: A
Few Basics for Beginners,
Q & A, The Newsletter
for the OBA Criminal Law
Section, Spring 2004
2. DUI/APC Law: A
Specialty Area of Law,
Q & A, The Newsletter
for the OBA Criminal Law
Section, Spring 2004
3. The Trilogy: Houston,
Justus & Fenimore,
The Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of The Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Fall 2003
4. HICKS v. STATE:
"What the Legislature
Really Meant ...",
The Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Summer 2003
5. Ethical
Considerations in DUI Cases:
Simple Cases that are not
So Simple, The
Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Spring 2002
6. Pletcher v. State of
Oklahoma ex rel. Department
of Public Safety: The
Parking Lot Issue Arises
Again!, The Gauntlet,
The Law Journal of the
Oklahoma Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association, Spring
2004
7. 2003 Legislative
Update on DUI & Related Law:
They Have Been at it Again!,
The Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Summer 2003
8. The Intoxilyzer 5000-D
"Self Diagnostic",
The Gauntlet,
The Law Journal of the
Oklahoma Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association, Summer
2004
9. A Lesson in Voir Dire,
Q & A, The Newsletter
for the OBA Criminal Law
Section, Vol. 3, Issue 2,
Page 22, March-April, 2005
10. Response to Peggy
Tobin's Retrograde
Extrapolation Article, Q &
A, The Newsletter for
the OBA Criminal Law
Section, Vol. 3, Issue 2,
Page 20, March-April, 2005
11. The Guth 2100
Simulator: The Phoenix
Raises From the Ashes, The
Gauntlet, the Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Spring 2005
12. The Continuing GUTH
2100 Saga, The Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Weekly
Newsletter, August 1, 2005
13. DUI Refusal: Jury
Instructions, The
Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Fall, 2005
14. DUI Jury Trials:
More on Refusal Jury
Instructions, The
Gauntlet, The Law
Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, Spring, 2006
15. CATO v. STATE:
Jury Instructions on Refusal
of the Chemical Test - The
Court got PART of it Right,
The Gauntlet, The
Law Journal of the Oklahoma
Criminal Defense Lawyers
Association, sPRING, 2007
At least ONE of these has
been cited in legal
pleadings in this State. One
of these articles was
directly responsible for
a coming change in the
standardized Jury
Instructions in Oklahoma
concerning breath test
refusals. Ask ANY
other Oklahoma lawyer if he
can claim that he/she has
ever done that in DUI
Defense!
He is the ONLY DUI
Defense lawyer serving on
the Board of Directors for
the Criminal Law Section of
the Oklahoma Bar
Association. He is contacted
regularly - and has been for
almost a decade - by the CLE
division of the Oklahoma Bar
Association for planning
seminars, particularly the
Bar's Annual Meeting.
In 2003, Mr. Sifers has been
awarded certification in
Standardized Field Sobriety
Tests as both an
Administrator of these tests
AND a Trainer of other
persons to become
Administrators. One of his
instructors was C. Jeffrey
Sifers, his law partner. The
younger Mr. Sifers was ALSO
one of the instructors of
another lawyer in this State
who likes to claim this
credential on his resume.
About 3 years ago, Mr.
Sifers graduated from a Drug
Recognition Training ("DRE")
program. Of the three (3)
persons that are NOT in law
enforcement in Oklahoma who
have graduated from this DRE
training program, two (2) of
those three (3) are Mr.
Sifers and his law partner
Jeff.
Mr. Sifers has served on the
Board of Directors of the
Oklahoma Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association and
Oklahoma County Criminal
Defense Lawyers Association.
He was the Co-Chairman of
the Continuing Legal
Education ("CLE") Committee
for both of these
organizations during his
tenure. During these time,
he was responsible for the
training of hundreds - if
not thousands - of other
Oklahoma lawyers in DUI
Defense.
He is a member of the
National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers,
the American Bar
Association, and the
American Trial Lawyers
Association.
Mr. Sifers served as a
consultant to the Oklahoma
Department of Public Safety
on Alcohol & Drug Substance
Courses ("DUI Schools") in
1978. His recommended
curriculum is STILL used as
a state-approved guideline
for the material taught in
these courses today. As a
DUI School Instructor, he
taught over 20,000 persons
these courses from 1979 to
1994. Mr. Sifers is a former
Probation Officer and
alcohol counselor for the
City of Oklahoma City.
And, Mr. Sifers has NEVER
been a prosecutor! Unlike
some attorneys who seem to
take pride in having been a
former prosecutor, Mr.
Sifers is proud
that he has NEVER
spent one second of his
legal career trying to put
anyone in jail! Every
day of his legal career has
been spent in
DEFENDING those
accused, not anything else!
Mr. Sifers’
Law Office is located in
Oklahoma City, where his
practice is almost
exclusively dedicated to
representing persons charged
with alcohol related traffic
offenses throughout that
state. He has represented
more than 3,500 of these
cases . . . and counting.
No other attorney in
Oklahoma has the knowledge,
experience, training, and
credentials that Mr. Sifers
can bring to your
defense in a DUI or APC
case. None. Period.
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