Defending a San Luis Obispo DUI
 Many individuals facing a DUI charge are under the misconception that they cannot do anything. They fall under the mistaken belief that they should just plead guilty and make the whole thing hurry up and go away, or they believe that if arrested for a DUI, then they are guilty and there is no defense. This way of thinking assumes it is not worth the time, money or effort to fight a DUI charge. Nothing is further from the truth. A DUI conviction has a devastating effect on many aspects of your life including loss of your driver’s license, fines, jail time, and loss of employment.
Below are some possible DUI defenses:
Making sure the officer had sufficient grounds to pull your vehicle over. An officer must be suspicious that you are driving under the influence in order to meet the rule for probable cause. Sometimes an officer may pull you over for another reason, which may not be a legitimate reason. Your attorney would file a motion to dismiss the DUI evidence. The motion spells out the reasons to dismiss the evidence - there was no legitimate reason to pull you over, therefore any evidence gathered supporting a DUI charge would be inadmissible. Your attorney may need to argue the merits of the motion in front of a judge. If a judge agrees, then the DUI evidence is not allowed at trial. Since there is no other evidence, your case will be dismissed and that will be the end of your DUI case.
Part of the prosecutor’s case is to prove you were driving a motor vehicle. Surprisingly, some DUI arrests occur without an officer actually seeing the driver drive a vehicle. This means the prosecutor has a circumstantial case based on only having circumstantial evidence. An effective defense to use in this situation would be that you were not actually driving.
Another defense approach is a scientific defense, which involves challenging the chemical test used by law enforcement in your case. There is an assortment of scientific defenses that can be used. Which one, will depend on the facts in your case. Scientific defenses require expert testimony. Below are two examples of scientific defenses.
It is a known fact that the breath test used to measure your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) has a margin of error of 0.01% to 0.02%. Because of this margin of error, there is a built-in reasonable doubt of what your BAC actually was at the time of the test. This makes a very valuable argument at the time of trial because of this built-in reasonable doubt.
The law states that you cannot have a BAC of 0.08% or higher and drive a motor vehicle. The defense to use in this strategy is whatever your blood alcohol level was before or after driving is immaterial as long as you can prove it was below the legal limit of 0.08% when you were driving. The use of expert testimony that states based on your drinking pattern and although you registered 0.08% or higher at the time of your arrest, you were actually below 0.08% at the time you were driving. This has proven a successful defense in several cases.
The only way to know what your options are is to discuss your specific situation with an experienced DUI defense attorney. Darryl Genis can review the facts of your case with you and develop a strategy to achieve the best possible outcome for your situation. If you are facing a DUI charge, call Mr. Genis today.
|
Drunk Driving DMV Hearing Lawyer
