Were you arrested for DUI or was someone close to you arrested for a DUI offense?
First of all, we need to talk about your feelings for a second.
If you’ve been arrested for DUI, you’re probably embarrassed or embarrassed, maybe a little angry, but most of all, you want to know what to do, what can be done, what you’re up against, and if you have the chance. to fight a DUI case. It is my hope to dispel some myths about DUI defense and also let you know what can and cannot be done with a DUI case.
Can you fight a DUI?
DUI defenses generally fall into categories of types of defenses. The best results come when you leave no stone unturned in finding defenses for a DUI case. It’s generally not a good idea to “pick one” defense and aggressively go for that one defense. The best tactic for defending DUI cases is when you carefully review all the evidence, line by line, and come up with a strategy.
- Force the district attorney to prove that you were driving. Intoxication is not enough: the prosecution must also prove that you were driving. This can be difficult if, as in the case of some accidents, the police arrive after the scene and there are no witnesses to the actual driving.
- Force the district attorney to prove probable cause. Evidence can and will be suppressed if the officer did not have legal cause to (a) stop, (b) detain, and (c) arrest. DUI checkpoints and sobriety checks in particular present many defenses to a DUI, but often police pull someone over for a non-driving violation and then use that as a pretext to fill in the blanks for cause likely. The jurisprudence could not be clearer in many cases: this is not allowed and it is not correct.
- Don’t give Miranda warnings. The incriminating statements may be suppressed if the warnings were not given in a timely manner.
- Implied Consent Warning Defenses. If the officer did not inform you of the consequences of refusing to take a chemical test, or if he did it incorrectly, this may invalidate your DMV license suspension for refusing to provide a breath/blood sample.
- Force the prosecutor to prove that you were under the influence. Officers’ observations and opinions regarding intoxication may be challenged…the circumstances under which field sobriety tests were given, for example, or the subjective (and biased) nature of what the officer believes what fails Witnesses, including waiters or waitresses, can also testify that you appeared to be sober.
- Breath alcohol test defenses. There is a wide range of potential problems with breath tests. Most breath machines will register many chemical compounds found in human breath as alcohol. The temperature and even the blow pattern can cause the breath reading to fluctuate considerably from normal. And breath machines assume a ratio of 2100 to 1 to convert breath alcohol to blood alcohol; in fact, this ratio varies greatly from person to person (and within a person from time to time). Radio frequency interference can result in inaccurate readings. These and other defects in the analysis can be discovered by obtaining the machine’s maintenance and calibration records, or on cross-examination by the state’s expert and/or the defense can hire their own forensic chemist.
- Blood alcohol test defenses. There are a wide range of issues with blood tests, including California’s requirement that alcohol swabs not be used, that the person drawing the blood be a licensed phlebotomist (not just a police officer), that the vial of blood has a certain percentage of preservatives and anticoagulants, blood is available for retesting, blood is not exposed to bacteria (airborne or otherwise), blood test machine is maintained and calibrated , that the blood is homogenized, that the vial follows a chain of custody, and that the blood is drawn within three hours after driving.
- Medical problems: Being diabetic, on Atkins-related diets, a person with acid reflux, with eye, knee, neurological or other physical defects, or on medication can often create a false positive conclusion that someone was under the influence.
- Assay during the absorption phase. The blood, breath, or urine test will not be reliable if it is done while you are still actively absorbing alcohol (it takes 30 minutes to three hours for complete absorption; this can be delayed if food is present in your stomach). Therefore, drinking “one for the road” can cause highly inaccurate test results.
- retrograde extrapolation. This refers to the requirement that the BAC be “related” in time from testing to driving. A number of complex physiological assumptions are made with backward extrapolation, and it generally involves bad science.
- Regulation of breathalyzer tests. The prosecution must prove that the blood, breath, or urine test met state requirements for calibration, maintenance, etc. and often a machine is found to have mechanical problems, or the test was not working, making the test excludable, and sometimes the test is disallowed. complete case.
- License suspension hearings. A number of issues can be raised in the context of an administrative hearing before the state department of motor vehicles, including officer errors.
The thing is, most of your friends don’t even know everything about the science involved. They usually just urge you to plead guilty. Even most attorneys are unaware of the complex issues and defenses involved in a DUI case.
However, a qualified DUI attorney can review the case for defects, suppress evidence, compel discovery of such things as calibration and maintenance records for the breath machine, independently test blood samples, negotiate a lesser charge, or a reduced sentence, obtain expert witnesses for trial, challenge the administrative license suspension, and handle a DUI trial with the highest likelihood of success.
A good DUI attorney can also help you handle your Department of Motor Vehicles hearing, which you must apply for within 10 days of your arrest, keep your license, and can minimize the impact on you of a DUI. In almost all cases, we can appear for you in court, without you having to take time off and experience the embarrassment of the court process. We can ask the court to minimize the fees and other penalties in your case, even if your case is not dismissed or reduced.
A DUI can stay on your driving record for life and also leaves a criminal record (depending on how it was filed, a DUI is either a misdemeanor or a felony). It can expose you to jail time, hefty fines with the court, expensive and inconvenient alcohol schools, and a huge increase in insurance that lasts for years, so in almost all cases it’s worth fighting the charges to avoid possible conviction (which remains on your record for life in California), and so you never have to wonder *what if* years later.