When You're Facing a DUI

If you have been pulled over by the police for a suspected DUI you need to make sure you get a drunk driving attorney as soon as possible to represent you. A DUI charge is a serious criminal charge and if you are convicted you could end up losing your right to drive, face prison time and face financial sanctions. The long term consequence of a conviction will impair your ability to get car insurance and may impair your ability to get certain types of jobs that require a clean driving record.

A drunk driving attorney will understand the best way to defend you against these charges and can work on a two prong defense to either have the charges reduced or dropped all together and failing that will work to have your sentence minimized.

The legal consequence of an arrest for drunk driving is severe and as a result it is an area that the police are fully trained in. Most drunk driving charges are challenged in court on every aspect of the stop and consequential arrest and towards that end your drunk driving attorney will look for flaws in the police case against you starting with the initial stop. The police must have probable cause to make any traffic stop including a DUI. Any stop made without probable cause may get tossed out and go no further in the system. This would be rare however since probable cause is basic to most police training and even a burned out tail light can qualify as cause for a traffic stop.

Your drunk driving attorney will also look specifically at the police officer who arrested you did your field sobriety test. Their training and arrest record can be closely examined in court in order to create a shadow of doubt in the mind of the jurors about how competent and well trained the arresting officer was.

Finally your attorney will look at your road sobriety field test itself as well as your breathalyzer test results. Breathalyzer test can be thrown off by something as innocent as using mouth wash shortly before you take the test and give the analyzer a false reading. This is why the police will have to show more than the results of your breathalyzer test to get a conviction such as your field sobriety test.

Things you can’t control such as slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and the inability to walk or stand straight will also need to be demonstrated by the arresting police officer as part of the field sobriety test and part of the justification for an arrest. Be aware though that sometimes field test are videotaped specifically for court purposes and can be very damaging to your case.
Finally your attorney can tackle the area of sentencing if you are found guilty and work to get you a reduced sentence or a sentence that avoids extensive jail time under the right circumstances.