If a police officer pulls you over and suspects you of driving under the influence (DUI), they’ll probably arrest you. After that, a judge will arraign you, and you will go to court.
DUI charges can lead to jail time, significant fines, license suspensions and increased insurance costs. They can also have professional implications if your job involves driving or if you have state licensing for a skilled profession, like nursing.
Fighting back against DUI charges can help you keep your driving record clean and your insurance costs reasonable, but many people find the idea of fighting a DUI quite intimidating. What are some of the strategies people successfully used to fight DUI allegations?
They explain their poor test performance
Did you know that numerous medical conditions could affect the accuracy of chemical breath tests and field sobriety tests? Police officers should ask drivers if they have any personal factors that would compromise the validity of test results.
All too often, police officers ignore information that may explain why a driver failed the breath test or performed poorly on a field sobriety test. That information could then form the basis of a defense strategy in court.
They challenge the overall validity of the test results
You don’t need a clear-cut medical explanation for why you failed the breath test to know that the results are wrong. If you got arrested for a DUI during a traffic stop that occurred after you had just spent a 12-hour shift working at the hospital, you obviously didn’t have anything to drink on the job so the test results must be inaccurate.
People can and sometimes do successfully defend against DUI charges by undermining the science of chemical breath testing. Issues with the testing unit or the officer’s training could make this a viable defense strategy.
They questioned the validity of the traffic stop
Police officers can’t just pull someone over without a reason. They need probable cause to suspect that a primary traffic infraction or crime has occurred. If they did not have probable cause, that anything they discovered during that traffic stop may not be admissible in court.
Realizing there are numerous ways to fight back against DUI charges can help you protect your future.