Drunk driving allegations can pose a risk to nearly every aspect of your life. You can be threatened with jail or prison time, devastating fines, license suspension or revocation, derailment of your career, and damage to your personal reputation. In other words, the penalties can be harsh.
That should be more than enough to motivate you to aggressively defend yourself in your DUI case, but you might feel like the evidence against you is too much to overcome. Yet, even in these instances, you might have strong criminal defense options available to you that can help you beat the prosecution.
Using police mistakes to your advantage
In many DUI cases, the police make mistakes that jeopardize the integrity of their investigation. If those errors go unchecked, then they could result in you being wrongfully convicted. Therefore, you need to scrutinize the facts of your case to see if any mistakes were made that you can use to your advantage. If there are some, then you might be able to block otherwise damaging evidence from being used against you.
Common mistakes the police make in DUI investigations
A lot of people think that the police handle so many drunk driving investigations that they can navigate them in an error-free way. But that simply isn’t the case. Here are some common mistakes that are made in DUI investigations:
- Conducting an illegal stop: To legally initiate a traffic stop, the police have to have reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime or a traffic infraction. If you’re pulled over on a hunch, then you’ve been illegally stopped. And if you’ve been illegally stopped, then any subsequently gathered evidence, including breath test results and observations of intoxication, can be blocked from being used against you.
- Conducting an illegal checkpoint: While DUI checkpoints can be legal, they must adhere to strict requirements to be deemed valid and justified. For example, if the criteria utilized for stopping drivers isn’t neutral, then you might be able to argue that the checkpoint was illegal and therefore the evidence from it shouldn’t be used against you.
- Improper administration of breath tests: Breath test results are often used to bring drunk driving charges and secure convictions. But the police often make mistakes when administering these tests. For example, if they force you to take the test shortly after you’ve been burping, then residual alcohol in your mouth might give a higher test result than what’s accurate. Scrutinize the facts leading up to your breath test, and consider whether the testing device itself was properly stored and calibrated before being used on you.
- Misreading field sobriety test results: Field sobriety tests are another tool the police use to try to determine whether intoxication exists. But all too often police officers misinterpret the results of these tests, or they give poor instructions that skew the results. These errors could result in you being arrested and charged.
Force the prosecution to prove its case in a fair fashion
Too many people who have been accused of drunk driving give up, admitting guilt before fully assessing the facts of their case. We encourage you to refrain from doing that, as the defense options available to you could make it very difficult for the prosecution to prove its case.
If you’re ready to develop the strong DUI defense strategy that you need to protect your interests and your future, then now is the time to get to work building your case. By diligently preparing your defense, you’ll find yourself feeling more in control of your case and its outcome, which can give you peace of mind and direction. Remember, you will get through this, but an aggressive criminal defense can help protect you along the way.