Defense attorney James Nesci has made a name for himself nationally and internationally for his handling of DUI cases. He was able to get one blood-alcohol breath-testing machine banned and is fighting another.

Greg Bryan / Arizona Daily Star

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When James Nesci decided he wanted to follow his older brother Vincent into the law profession, Vincent gave him some advice.

"He told me to find yourself a niche and to make yourself an expert in that niche," Nesci said.

Now, 14 years after graduating from the University of Arizona's law school, Nesci travels the world giving lectures on defending suspected drunken drivers, has written half a dozen books and won two significant battles against breath-testing machine companies.

Nesci was one of a handful of attorneys who persuaded judges to dismiss 5,000 DUI cases in 1997 after discovering the RBT-IV breath test was producing unreliable readings. As a result of their work, the Tucson Police Department stopped using the machines.

Eleven years later, Nesci has won the right to get access to the software for another breath-testing machine he is convinced is also unreliable.

If the makers of the Intoxily-zer 8000 comply with a judge's order to give up the software, Nesci is convinced his experts can prove the machine is unreliable and get thousands more cases dismissed.

Already, more than 400 cases have been dismissed because defense attorneys haven't been given the software, and a handful of Tucson City Court judges ruled they have the right to test the machine's reliability.

Nesci said the battle over the source code isn't just a defense ploy.

"An inaccurate machine is of no benefit to anyone," Nesci said. "Inaccurate results could mean imprisonment for innocent people and exoneration for the guilty. People have the right to know how these machines get their results."

Kelly Larkin, executive director for Southern Arizona's chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the organization understands that suspects have the right to be treated fairly. However, she doesn't believe there are any problems with the Intoxilyzer 8000.

"I'm disappointed the Police Department and the Sheriff's Department work so very hard to keep our streets safe and now everything is up in court and cases are being dismissed," Larkin said.

There are too many attorneys who only handle drunken-driving suspects, Larkin said.

"If 90 percent of their business is based on drunk drivers, they do whatever they think will get the drunk drivers off or slow down the process," Larkin said. "They do whatever they need to do to work with their clients, and in the end the community suffers because they are back on the streets."

Nesci is well aware of the poor reputation defense attorneys have, particularly those who represent people suspected of driving drunk.

Jurors are more apt to give a murder suspect the benefit of the doubt than a DUI suspect, Nesci said. No one believes defense attorneys condone rape, yet many think defense attorneys must condone drinking and driving simply because they represent those accused of doing so, he said.

Still, Nesci wouldn't dream of practicing any other sort of law. There's no money in defending juveniles, civil law moves too slowly. And family law?

"I'd rather spend five hours locked in a room with a serial killer than five minutes locked in a room with someone going through a divorce," Nesci said.

DUI cases are generally far more complex than the average murder case, Nesci said.

DUI defense attorneys need to have a strong science background and be thoroughly knowledgeable on constitu-tional issues, such as search and seizure laws and Miranda rights.

"Honestly, I think it's where the best and the brightest practice," Nesci said.

His clients' guilt or innocence is of no concern to him, Nesci said.

"I defend the Constitution. My theory is that if the jury convicts a person because they believe the state proved its case beyond any reasonable doubt, justice was done, and if the jury acquits someone because the state failed to meet its burden, justice was done," Nesci said. "Either way, justice wins and the Constitution wins."

Defense attorneys Michael Bloom and Stephen Barnard have greatly influenced him over the years, Nesci said. Bloom taught him to investigate every detail of a case, no matter how routine it appears on the surface, and Barnard taught him great courtroom presence.

"Had I been mentored by someone average rather than exceptional, I may have been an average attorney," Nesci said.

The first time Deputy Pima County Attorney Michael Kelly went to trial by himself, Nesci was defending the suspect.

Experts testified the suspect had a blood-alcohol level of 0.087 — just over the legal limit.

Nesci instilled enough doubt in the jurors' minds, and his client was acquitted.

"I remember thinking I wanted to know as much about blood testing as he did," Kelly said.

Every time he went up against Nesci, Kelly said, he was amazed at how well he knew the case.

Nesci recognized every discrepancy and knew the scientific facts of the case inside and out, Kelly said.

"As a young lawyer, you always finds yourself in court hoping the defense attorney will miss something. With Nesci, he always caught it, he doesn't miss anything," Kelly said.

If there are prosecutors and police officers who don't like Nesci, it's because he knows what he's doing, Kelly said.

One of Nesci's law partners, Joe St. Louis, said Nesci tends to brag too much, but he has earned the right to do so.

"Jim fights really hard, but he fights fair. He knows the rules and he follows them," St. Louis said. "He wins but not because he lies, cheats or takes shortcuts. He wins because he works hard and he knows his cases, sometimes better than the officers and the scientific experts themselves."

Although several attorneys are involved in the Intoxilyzer 8000 case, Nesci took on the task of putting all of the pieces together, Barnard said. He wrote the motions and responses and argued the case many times.

St. Louis said there are plenty of attorneys who will take clients, bleed them of their money and then encourage them to take the first plea agreement offered.

"That's not Jim," St. Louis said.

Bloom said he is often asked what qualities are most important in an attorney, and he tells them it's enthusiasm and a strong determination to do a good job. "Jim has those," Bloom said.

Nesci said he purposely carries a lower caseload than many attorneys, simply because he wants to be able to devote more time to each.

He keeps careful records of his wins and losses, with wins coming in the form of dismissals or acquittals.

Between January 1995 and July 2008, Nesci said, he has won 225 cases and lost 42. He negotiated 129 plea agreements during the same time, including one for legendary singer Diana Ross.

"I've always taken fewer cases and put more time in. That's how you win cases. This is not a factory," Nesci said.

When the native New Yorker isn't at work or traveling to seminars, he spends time with his wife of 20 years, Katherine, and their twin 10-year-old daughters. He also collects and races vintage Corvettes, travels and gardens.

On the walls of his office are several sharp instruments he's collected on his travels, including a Scottish claymore, a Civil War-era musician's sword and an 1843 artilleryman's sword.

"They are instruments of war and I go to war every single day that I'm here, and these remind me of that," Nesci said.