Print | Send To Friends | Add To Favorites | Comment

5 Tips to Help Avoid a DUI Conviction

By: Lawrence Taylor

Article Word Count: 816 words  [Comments (0)]
Total Views: 1 Views

If you are ever arrested for drunk driving (also called DUI for "driving under the influence" or DWI for "driving while intoxicated"), your experience will begin with an officer stopping you because of some questionable driving pattern, or possibly because you encountered a DUI "sobriety checkpoint" or you were involved in an accident. The officer will approach your car and ask some questions. You will then be asked to perform "field sobriety tests". He may also ask you to breath into a handheld device, technically called a PBT or "preliminary breath test". You will then be arrested. On the way to the police station, you will be asked to submit to a breath or blood test -- and told that if you don't, your driver's license will be suspended.

What should you do and say during all of this to minimize the risk of a criminal conviction and a license suspension?

1. Politely decline to answer any questions without an attorney present. It is a cardinal rule in legal circles that only incriminating statements are included in police reports and later testified to in court; statements pointing to innocence are invariably ignored, forgotten or misinterpreted. Bluntly put, whatever you say will almost never help you and can only hurt you.

2. Decline to take any so-called field sobriety tests. These are theoretically intended to determine impairment, but in fact are designed for failure. In most cases, the officer has already made the decision to arrest and is simply going through the motions and gathering further evidence to bolster his case (he is the one who decides whether you "pass" or "fail"). In almost all states, you are not required to submit to this "testing". It's unlikely that taking it will change the officer's decision to arrest.

3. Decline to take a "PBT" (preliminary breath test). These handheld units are carried by officers in the field to help decide whether to arrest or not and are notoriously inaccurate. In most states, drivers are not required to submit to these tests (in some they are required if you are under 21). Although most states admit the results of these tests into evidence only to show the presence of alcohol, some permit them to prove the actual blood-alcohol level.

4. Do you choose blood, breath -- or refuse to take any chemical test? This is a case-by-case decision, and involves a number of considerations. First, although blood tests are subject to many possible errors, they are generally more accurate than so-called "breathalyzers"; if you feel your blood-alcohol level is below .08%, then you might want to choose the blood test. Secondly, whether to submit to testing at all requires some knowledge of your state's laws -- specifically, the consequences of refusing. If the increased criminal penalty and license suspension do not outweigh the possible benefit of depriving the prosecution of blood-alcohol evidence, then you may wish to refuse. Bear in mind that the prosecution will charge you with two offenses, DUI and driving with over .08% blood-alcohol; without a blood or breath test, he cannot prove the .08% charge, and there will be no chemical evidence to corroborate the officer's testimony. You should also realize that in many states chemical evidence of a very high blood-alcohol level, say over .15%, can trigger more severe penalties.

5. In almost all states, your driver's license will be immediately suspended if either (1) the chemical tests results are .08% or higher, or (2) you refuse to submit to testing. You have a right to a hearing to contest this administrative suspension, and there are many possible defenses, many of them technical in nature. This hearing is usually separate from the criminal proceedings, and involve different procedures and issues than in court; it is not uncommon to lose the criminal case but win the suspension hearing. However, as most motor vehicle departments do not really want the time and expense of providing these hearings, they tend to provide notice of the right buried in fine print given to arrestees. The critical information is the requirement that an actual demand for the hearing must be made by the arrestee -- usually within ten calendar days. If you do not contact the DMV within ten days, you lose all rights to a hearing -- no matter how good a defense you may have. Tip #5: Get an attorney right away, or make the call yourself -- and make sure you can later prove you made the call within the ten day window!

Lawrence Taylor is a former prosecutor, Fulbright professor of law, and author of the standard legal textbook, "Drunk Driving Defense, 5th Edition". He heads an 8-attorney http://www.losangelesduilaw.com">DUI defense law firm in Los Angeles.

About the Author

Lawrence Taylor is a former prosecutor, Fulbright professor of law, and author of the standard legal textbook, "Drunk Driving Defense, 5th Edition". He heads an 8-attorney http://www.losangelesduilaw.com">Los Angeles DUI defense law firm.

Print | Send To Friends | Add To Favorites | Comment

Related articles


How To Appeal Your Denied Social Security Claims? By: Jinky - Social Security is an agency of rules and regulations.
 
Social Security MemberÂ’s Concerns By: Jinky - Changing of Names The Social Security has set some rules and regulations to be followed by members who wish to have their names changed.
 
Tips on Selecting the Right Personal Injury or Car Accident Lawyer By: smgenie - If you are in a car accident and suffer an injury, you should consult with an attorney.
 
What does it take to be a Lawyer? By: Amit - When you see all these handsome Lawyers in TV series like LA Law, sitting in their fancy offices, driving these flashy cars, have you ever realized what they have been through in terms of time, years of education, money, Certifications etcÂ’.
 
Understanding Tort By: David C Skul - Tort law is different from the laws of contract, restitution, and the criminal law.
 
The Insanity of the Defense By: Sam Vaknin - I.
 
Money Laundering in A Changed World By: Sam Vaknin - If you shop with a major bank, chances are that all the transactions in your account are scrutinized by AML (Anti Money Laundering) software.
 
Corruption and Transparency By: Sam Vaknin - I.
 
Employment Law: Sex Discrimination - Justification - Margin of Discretion By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - In the case of Hardys and Hansons plc v Lax [2005] EWCA Civ 846 (Court of Appeal), the appellant employers were brewers who ran a chain of public houses.
 
Employment Law: Unfair Dismissal - Constructive Dismissal - 'Last Straw' By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - The case of Bell v The Spirit Group Ltd [2005] concerned a claim for unfair and constructive dismissal.
 
Employment Law - Unfair Dismissal - Constructive Dismissal By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - The case of Thornley v Land Securities Trillium Ltd [2005] concerned a claim for unfair and constructive dismissal by an employee who alleged that her employer imposed a new job description on her and she contended that her contract of employment was fundamentally breached by such changes to her duties imposed by her employer.
 
Employment Law: Attendance Rewards - Legal Ramifications By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - If you were thinking of offering your employees special rewards as incentives for having good attendance records, then you must read on.
 
Employment Law: Unfair Dismissal - Employer Succeeded in Changing Terms of Employment By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - Good News for Employers wishing to change the terms of employment of employees, however, employers must still take care.
 
Employment Law: Time Limits for Bringing Employment Tribunal Claims By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - In the case of Chouafi v London United Busways Ltd [2005], the claimant was employed as a bus driver by the defendant company.
 
Employment Law - Claims - Overseas Worker By: Dr Rosanna Cooper - In the case Saggar v Ministry of Defence [2005] , it was held that an overseas based employee of a British business, who was a UK resident when recruited or at any time during the course of the employee's employment, is entitled to bring a discrimination claim in the UK .
 

Search the Articles


Subscribe

Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter your name

Enter your email

Categories

Syndicates