St. Louis Huffman Law

Joseph P. St. Louis is the only lawyer in Arizona certified as a Specialist in both Criminal Defense (Arizona State Bar, 2000 to present) and in DUI Defense (National College for DUI Defense, a certification recognized by the American Bar Association, 2012 to present). Mr. St. Louis is AV ® PreeminentTM Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and has been listed in Woodward/White’s Best Lawyers in America in the DUI specialty area since 2013. He has been named to the Best Lawyers in Arizona and New Mexico by Super Lawyers magazine in the DUI specialty area since 2009 and was named one of the Best Lawyers in Tucson in the DUI specialty area by Tucson Lifestyle Magazine since 2013.Mr. St. Louis is one of eleven members of the governing board of the National College for DUI Defense, the Board of Regents. The NCDD has over 1,600 members nationwide. Mr. St. Louis is also the past president of Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a statewide defense organization with over 600 members. In 2003, at the request of the then-presiding chief judge of the Pima County Justice Courts, Mr. St. Louis served as a part-time Justice of the Peace. In 2013, Mr. St. Louis was one of four lawyers who litigated a 17-day hearing in the Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the manner in which blood testing is performed in the Scottsdale City Crime Laboratory. The hearing resulted in the judge suppressing all blood evidence in 11 felony cases, after finding the results to be unreliable.Mr. St. Louis is a sought-after lecturer and trainer at continuing legal education seminars. In both 2015 and 2019, Joe St. Louis was named as one of the top 10 highest rated lecturers at any presentation given in that calendar year by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (out of approximately 200 speakers each calendar year). Mr. St. Louis has spoken on a variety of legal topics at legal education seminars sponsored by a variety of State Bar and Defense Attorney organizations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.Mr. St. Louis is a graduate of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s Student Course on Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, NHTSA’s Instructor Course on Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, and the American Chemical Society’s Forensic Chromatography Course.Mr. St. Louis has defended several death penalty cases, both in state court, where he was lead counsel in Pima County’s first death penalty case tried completely to a jury (the client received a prison sentence after Mr. St. Louis convinced the jury not to impose the death penalty) and in federal court, where he was found to be qualified as “Learned Counsel,” a designation reserved for only the most qualified attorneys handling these cases. Mr. St. Louis has the unique distinction of having had two back-to-back first-degree murder cases in which the judges dismissed all murder charges during the trial.Mr. St. Louis has tried over 200 cases to juries, on both misdemeanor and felony charges, in federal court and in state courts throughout Arizona. He has also argued cases before the Arizona Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.Mr. St. Louis has been the attorney coach for the Basis Oro Valley Mock Trial team, since 2012. The teams he has coached have advanced to and competed in the State championship rounds in the last two state competitions held, placing 2nd and 4th in the state.

Ryan Huffman is a trial lawyer with a background in defending clients accused of crimes, including working at the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, as well as the Federal Public Defender’s office in Tucson during law school, and in his work as an attorney in private practice since being licensed by the Arizona State Bar. As a member of Nesci & St. Louis, he represents individuals accused of DUIs, misdemeanors and felony offenses at courts in Tucson, Pima County and throughout Arizona.Ryan has vigorously represented accused individuals throughout all stages of litigation, including trials and appeals. His experience includes both misdemeanor and felony criminal matters. He has a particular familiarity with motion practice, seeking to have his clients’ cases dismissed prior to trial, and is passionate about advocating against unethical police tactics and procedures. Ryan has had success in jury trials, winning acquittals for his clients on charges including DUI allegations of having a blood alcohol concentration as high as .131. Ryan also successfully demonstrated in a DUI jury trial that a reported breath test result of .250 was unreliable, resulting in a complete acquittal of all BAC charges for his client.Ryan is an Arizona native and graduated from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (ASU Law) in 2016. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona, where he majored in Political Science.Since joining Nesci & St. Louis, Ryan has focused on pretrial litigation and trial work in DUIs, misdemeanors and felonies in courts throughout Arizona. When not defending individuals accused of crimes, Ryan’s interests include studying Arizona’s history, traveling, volunteering, and spending time with his friends and family.

Sean McNally is a litigator specializing in Criminal and DUI offenses. Sean is a graduate of the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. While in law school, Sean focused primarily on criminal defense law, earning a Certificate of Criminal Law and Policy, and working primarily with the Pima County Public Defender’s office. Upon graduation, Sean was presented with the Hon. Joseph M. Livermore Service Award. After law school, Sean clerked at the Arizona Court of Appeals for the Hon. Sean E. Brearcliffe, prior to joining Nesci & St. Louis.Prior to his career in law, Sean served with distinction in the United States Air Force for 20+ years, predominantly as a Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Superintendent. He is an adopted son of Arizona, having moved to Tucson in the eighth grade. He is a graduate of Cholla High School and of Arizona State University, where he received his Bachelor of Applied Science in Political Science.Since joining Nesci & St. Louis, Sean has focused on pretrial litigation and trial work in DUIs, misdemeanors, and felonies in courts throughout Arizona. When Sean is not defending individuals accused of crimes, he spends his time watching his daughter play softball, and enjoying evenings with friends and family.

James Nesci, retired, is the Fellow of the National College for DUI Defense. He served as the College’s Dean during the 2016-2017 academic year and was a regent of the College from 2006 to 2017. Board-certified in 2001, Mr. Nesci has been board-certified longer than anyone in the State of Arizona. James has been such an incredible part of our team, but he has recently retired. We wish him the best as he continues to receive accolades for his life's work, and as he continues to speak at legal seminars and write books on DUI defense.Mr. Nesci often defended cases well into the .30 blood-alcohol range. He has caught more than one police officer lying during cross-examination. He was one of the lead attorneys on the Intoximeters® RBT-IV breath-testing issue in Southern Arizona which resulted in the suppression of breath tests in over 7,000 cases and the removal of the RBT-IV from the streets of Arizona. He also spearheaded the effort to obtain the manufacturer’s source code and software for the CMI Intoxilyzer 8000. Although the source code was never obtained, he almost single-handedly ground 90% of all DUI prosecutions within the City of Tucson to a halt for nearly three years and obtained breath test suppressions and dismissals in hundreds of DUI cases.