The Criminal Defense Law Center of
West Michigan

10 Strategies to Beat your First DUI

Individuals charged with a 1st DUI offense typically have no idea of what steps to take or how the criminal court system works. The arrest triggers a state of panic, since they can only imagine the worse about possible penalties and consequences. For starters, they might worry about losing their driver’s license and developing a permanent criminal record. Truth is, that those fears are not baseless because a DUI conviction has long-lasting effects on a person’s professional and social life.

Luckily, the success rate of beating a first DUI offense is very good. You can easily defy allegations of drunk driving and get full pardon if you work with a competent DUI Defense Attorney. Below are the top ten strategies applied in the case of first-time DUI offenders:

1.      Legality of the Stop

The traffic police cannot ask a driver to pull over if they were not doing anything wrong. Stopping a driver without a valid excuse and searching their vehicle without a warrant is illegal. Your charges will be dropped if you can demonstrate that the stop was in no way rational or reasonable. For example, you may stress that the cop simply accused you because of your skin color or their gender bias.

2.      Unreliability of Field Tests

Roadside cops regularly conduct field sobriety tests to confirm their suspicions about a drunk or intoxicated driver. These field tests are aimed at checking a person’s focus, balance, and reaction time, but the results are often inaccurate. Many people perform poorly due to a variety of innocent reasons, such as being overwhelmed, overweight, clumsy, or tired.

3.      Faulty Breath Test Results

Believe it or not, breath test results are misleading most of the time. The Breathalyzer used is either not properly calibrated or malfunctions due to lack of maintenance. Furthermore, the machine you blow in measures the amount of alcohol in your breath rather than the BAC levels in your blood stream; to be precise, breath test results are not a true representation of your intoxication levels.

4.      Opposition of Constitutional Rights

Police officers have to follow a set of rules and regulations in order to make an arrest. Even if the stop was legitimate, the case can be dismissed on other grounds. First of all, the cops are required to recite you your Miranda Rights while making the arrest. You cannot be forced to give a confession or be deprived of your right to obtain a lawyer.

5.      Misconduct by Law Enforcement

If law enforcement abused you in any way or used violent methods to get you to confess, the case will be dismissed. The officers responsible for causing any harm will be prosecuted. You are innocent until proven guilty, thus any punishment prior to conviction is illegal.

6.      Medical Reasons or Symptoms

Slurred speech, unsteady movements, and redness in the eyes could be symptoms of a medical condition, such as certain allergies. Prescription drugs can also be responsible for intoxication or symptoms that suggest that a driver is not sober.

7.      Justification for Impaired Driving

Sometimes, reckless driving is forgivable if the driver was in a compromised position. He/she could have been driving too fast because of an emergency. If the reason for rash behavior on the road is understandable, the court shall pardon you.

8.      Questioning mere Suspicion

If the prosecutor has no solid evidence for incriminating you, it is possible to beat the charges by simply challenging their accusations. They may not have any valid DUI test results due to police negligence, or because you refused the test. Even if you refused, your lawyer can defend you by establishing that you were unaware of the consequences.

9.      Problems with Chemical Blood Test

While chemical blood tests are the most reliable method for measuring BAC levels, the results can still be erroneous. You can contest the blood test results by declaring that the sample was not procured and stored properly before being taken to the lab.

10. Involuntary Intoxication

If you were drugged without consent and knowledge, you may not be held responsible for your actions. For instance, this might happen if someone spiked your drinks or administered the intoxicating substance by an alternate method.

 

 

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