When someone tells you that they’ve been arrested on DUI charges, they may lament the fact that they are going to lose their license and have to pay hefty fines. What this person is doing is assuming that being arrested means they’re going to be convicted.
But that’s not at all a guarantee. There are actually many different DUI defenses that you can consider. They all apply to various situations differently, so you’ll need to factor in your unique circumstances when deciding what tactic to choose, but let’s look at a few of your potential options below.
Problems with Breathalyzers
First of all, the breath tests that police use can have various problems that make them inaccurate. One example could be if an officer was never trained before trying to administer the test. Another could be if the breath test wasn’t calibrated in accordance with the schedule. Anything that makes the breath test suspect also brings up a lot of questions about a failed test if you blew a BAC that was over the legal limit.
Issues with field sobriety tests
Field sobriety tests are also used to make these arrests, but they are very unreliable, as well. For instance, an officer may believe that you failed the walk-and-turn test because you stumbled due to your intoxication. But you know that you actually stumbled because you’re trying to take the test on the shoulder of the road and it’s simply not an ideal situation. Maybe you tripped over debris or the edge of the pavement.
An illegal stop
In some cases, even if the evidence certainly shows that you were intoxicated, you can defend yourself by showing that the police made an illegal stop. Remember that they cannot make random traffic stops simply to find out if drivers are intoxicated by giving them a test. The police need to have probable cause to pull the vehicle over first, and their evidence may not stand in court if they did not.
These are just a few of the potential options at your disposal, so make sure you know what steps to take.