THE DUI STOP
THE DUI STOP
Police usually begin a DUI investigation before they have stopped your vehicle. Common reasons for being stopped by the police include the following:
Driving too slowly
Driving too fast
Weaving
Lane Straddling
Not driving with lights on at night
Any other infraction that permits a basis for a stop.
Once the police have you pulled over based on a legitimate reason, that is over half the battle. The police are now looking to see if the person is intoxicated, such that a sober person would not be driving in this manner, or that the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is .08% by weight in volume of alcohol in the your blood. They will look to see if you are fumbling around with paperwork, or appear to be nervous. They will begin to ask you questions, to see if you have slurred speech or an odor of alcohol from your person. They can also look into your eyes to see if your eyes are blood shot or are responsive to light. They might look to see if there are any open containers of alcohol in your vehicle.
Remember your right to remain silent, please be polite, but refuse to say anything incriminating.
2. If You Are Involved in A Car Accident
Often times, officers involved in traffic accident investigations will be looking for signs of intoxication. In reality, a person involved in a serious accident might be confused, in pain, in shock or have head trauma, making it appear to the officer that the person is intoxicated, when in fact, they are not. The officer can rely on eyewitnesses to assist them in determining driving patterns that could indicate to them that the driver is somehow impaired. The officers begin their investigation for DUI's before they even meet the driver.
Officers will want to get a statement from the driver as to the reasons why they got into the accident or if they are impaired, by either alcohol, drugs or prescription medications. Officers get much of the evidence against a defendant, from the mouth of the defendant himself. Use your right to remain silent.
Every part of the DUI investigation could either provide more evidence against you, or could be a vacant hole in the prosecution's case. A knowledgeable and experienced criminal defense attorney can assist can negotiate cases and get charges dropped by either getting evidence suppressed, or showing that the traffic stop was illegal in the first place.
For more information, if you or a loved one are facing DUI charges, please contact the attorneys at the Law Offices of Natalio Pereira today. Call (800) 926-1852 immediately, we have offices near you. Your defense starts now!
Miranda Warnings
Many people don’t realize that police can begin questioning you immediately, without arresting you and without reading you your rights. Only after they get arrested and the Miranda warnings were never given do they realize that they should have remained silent. Miranda warnings apply when you are in custody and subject to custodial interrogation.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF STOPPED FOR A DUI?
In many cases, people who get stopped for DUI are not expecting to be stopped by the police. Maybe they were only driving a short distance or maybe they only had a couple of drinks and thought they were okay to drive. Either way, the reason you were stopped could be based a few factors including the time of day (after 2 a.m.) or the area where you were driving. Many times the officer pulls a person over for "weaving" which is a subjective opinion because nobody drives in a perfect straight line. However, if you do get pulled over for DUI, the are some simple steps to insure that you have an opportunity of not going to jail or getting the case ultimately dismissed.
Step 1. Be Polite
Always remember that the police are there to protect and serve the community and want to keep the roads safe. So, if they think you are driving under the influence, then they are not going to let you off with a warning, but will doing everything they can to build a case against you that will stand up in court. The police are not neutral observers. With that in mind, always be polite and respectful to the officers.
Step 2. Provide Your Information
The officer will approach your vehicle and usually will first ask for your license, registration and proof of insurance. You should have those items ready and be able to hand them to the officer with out and problems. Next, the officer might try to get you to communicate with them by asking you where were you going or where you were coming from? At this point you must realize that you are not obligated to converse with the officer beyond providing your identification and vehicle information.
Step 3. Tell The Truth If You Choose To Say Anything At All
The officer will usually say that he smells an odor of alcohol coming from your person. At this point, you should always tell the truth if an officer asks you a question and you voluntarily respond to his questions. However, if you decide not to say anything, then you are invoking your right to remain silent. Remember the officer is starting to build a case against you and the more answers you give the officers the more information they have to use against you.
Another question the officer might ask you, is do you know why I pulled you over?
By asking the officer, "no, officer can you tell me why you pulled me over?”, you have responded with a statement that cannot hurt you later. But, if you admit that you were speeding or was weaving, then they have begun building a case against you.
Another question they might ask you, is how much have you had to drink or have you been drinking today?
These are both questions that you should not lie about, but might want to consider not answering and using your right to remain silent. Many officers hear that the driver simply states that they had two beers or drinks two hours ago. Now if that was true, then most of that alcohol would have dissipated in your blood over the last two hours.
So what you have done is admit to consumption of alcohol and provided a time line. The officer has locked you into a story whether or not it is true.
You should answer the officer by saying, "I don't answer any questions. Am I free to go? You can continue to answer the remaining questions this way.
Step 4. Know Your Rights And Remain Silent.
If the officer request you get out of the vehicle, you should politely get out of the vehicle, but decline to perform any tests. You are not required to perform any of the field sobriety tests.
DUI TESTS
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test:
You don’t have to perform the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. This is a test to see if your eye will involuntarily "flutter" at an angle from your direct view. Because this test is somewhat subjective, the officer will usually find that your eyes did flutter at a certain angle which shows a presumption that you are under the influence. So, politely decline to perform this test.
Walk and Turn test:
Next, the might ask you to perform a walk and turn test. Once again, you do to need to perform this test. However, the officer will try and get you to put your feet together heel to toe and stand while he explains how you need to walk nine steps, turn and walk nine steps back heel to toe without using your arms for balance. Once again, this is a subjective test and the officer will identify several mistakes you made that will indicate that you are under the influence. So, politely decline to perform this test.
Rhomberg Balance test.
The officer might ask you to perform a Rhomberg balance test. This is a test where you would need to stand with your feet together and tilt your head back with your eyes closed and your arms out an estimate 30 seconds (without counting or swaying). This is a highly subjective test and the officer will generally conclude that you did not perform this test satisfactorily and presume you to be under the influence. So, politely decline to perform this test.
Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) test:
Finally, the officer will also ask you to perform a preliminary alcohol screening test ( PAS). This is for the officer to get a first reading of your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). This generally hurts your case in two ways. First, the police get a close estimate of what your BAC is at the scene. Second, they usually get another test which they can use to compare and plot a graph of your BAC for their case against you.
Please don’t take the PAS test in the field, as you are not required to take this test. Politely decline it.
There will be another test that you may choose, either a EPAS test or a Blood Test (which you cannot decline.) Remember, the more you say the more likely you are to incriminate yourself.
For more information, if you or a loved one are facing DUI charges, please contact the attorneys at the Law Offices of Natalio Pereira today. Call (800) 926-1852 immediately, we have offices near you. Your defense starts now!