EAU CLAIRE — A two-day trial on charges of OWI 5 and PAC 5 appears to be delayed after the defendant failed to appear for a hearing in January.

Benjamin Winters, 42, was charged in January 2022 after an Eau Claire police officer watched him drive away from a local tavern. According to the criminal complaint, Winters drove into the middle of the road before stopping and nearly causing a crash. The officer followed him to a gas station, where he stopped.

Two officers approached Winters. He failed sobriety tests and blew a .122 in a field breath test. A blood draw returned a .143 blood alcohol level.

The charges have been sharply contested by Winters’ attorney, who pointed to a comment by one officer as cause to dismiss nearly everything in evidence. Body camera video showed the officer telling a colleague “I didn’t have a reason to stop him.”

“By unlawfully seizing Winters without reasonable suspicion, all evidence obtained by exploitation of the illegal seizure must be suppressed as fruits of the poisonous tree,” the motion said.

The court did not accept the defense arguments, but the issue is likely to be raised during the trial. Winters has prior OWI convictions in Eau Claire and Dunn counties dating back to 1999.

His current address is unclear. Court documents list him as being held at the Stanley Correctional Institution as of September 2022. The Department of Corrections, however, shows him on active community supervision and gives his address as being in Elmwood, in Pierce County.