Serious legal issues can arise at every stage of police contact with you when you are pulled over. There are serious consequences of being charged with a motor vehicle crime, such as a DUI. Some punishments may include revocation of your license –depending on your blood alcohol concentration, or if you refuse to take the texts on the scene. Hiring an experienced DUI attorney will benefit you in the long run. Getting a DUI lawyer is important in order to challenge the charges against you. Whether it is a false accusation or you are guilty, you have the right to fight for your rights and freedoms; however, this must be done carefully and expediently to ensure all the legal evidence and facts of your case are collected. Here are five possible ways your attorney may be able to get your DUI charges dismissed.
Arrest Details
There are ways to remain innocent in a DUI case based on the arrest details. It is essential to get arrest details examined by an attorney to find possible mistakes that may allow you to beat a DUI charge and have your case dismissed. The officer’s error is just one of the ways we can get your case dismissed.
Knowing Your Rights
It is important to remember that in order for a police officer to stop your vehicle for a DUI, the officer must have a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that you have committed a traffic offense before he can stop your vehicle and develop reasonable suspicion that you are driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or any other substance. Sometimes poor driving abilities, animals on the road, or a host of other things can, cause I driver to appear to be driving erratically – and despite being a bad driver isn’t a good thing, it’s also not illegal if you have a license.
When an officer pulls someone over for what they suspect is DUI, they will take careful sensory observations such as, the odor of alcohol, hearing slurred speech, smelling the odor of an alcoholic beverage. The office will ask if you have been drinking and then ask you to perform a roadside field sobriety test and if the officer is unsure he will ask you to take a preliminary breath test on the side of the road to establish a probable cause for an arrest. You have the right to refuse to breathe into the machine on the side of the road when an officer requests it, although it violates some aspects of the criminal code, there are ways that a good defense attorney can help take you out of this situation.
Fighting Evidence
An individual is always innocent until proven guilty. If there is reasonable doubt that the officer may have been wrong and you were not driving under the influence, the court may dismiss your case. Many testing procedures used by police officers to prove that you are under the influence are not 100% accurate and can often be successfully challenged in court. Also, using a non-standardized field test is often times not admissible in court.
Checkpoint Inconsistencies
Many drivers are arrested at a checkpoint or roadblock. Experienced attorneys have provided the latest legal information that show that these checkpoint stops are not properly established and violate 4th amendment rights. The 4th amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It can be unfair and borderline illegal to be stopped by an officer without reasonable suspicion.
Recent Laws
When seeking ways to beat a DUI charge, it is essential to be aware of new DUI laws and regulations. The recent changes in DUI legislation may cause increased penalties for drivers who are unaware of them. The new 2015 DUI and DWI laws call for increased penalties including potential prison time and felony convictions.