A DUI (driving under the influence) charge is a serious one, not to mention a potentially dangerous one. That is why you should be safe and avoid getting behind the wheel even if you have only had a few drinks and believe you are safe to drive.
Nevertheless, we all make mistakes sometimes and if you did get caught in a DUI trap, then you have every right to fight that charge. That is especially the case if you didn’t cause any harm when you received the charge.
Considering the understandably low opinion the law has on DUIs, you might be wondering if it is even possible to beat a DUI charge. It is definitely possible, but you need an experienced defense lawyer on your side to do so. If you live in the Central Florida region, then contact Lawyer Parikh to help you. The following are some of the ways he, or any experienced trial attorney, can help you to beat a DUI charge.
Unreliable Breathalyzer Test
The breathalyzer is the most common way to measure someone’s BAC (blood alcohol content) but it is not the most accurate way. That is because it does not measure the alcohol in your bloodstream, but rather the alcohol in your mouth. That means there are several ways in which the reading of the breathalyzer could be rendered inaccurate.
Belching, regurgitation, acid reflux, and other medical conditions could cause an abnormally high breathalyzer reading even if your BAC is actually very low.
Furthermore, breathalyzers can be faulty, which can lead to false positives.
A savvy lawyer can formulate many different arguments as to why the results of a breathalyzer test are not to be trusted.
Unreliable Field Sobriety Test
This is the other common way of determining whether a driver is under the influence or not. These tests include simple activities like walking in a straight line or balancing on one leg. However, failing any of the FSTs is not an immediate indicator of inebriation. There can be many outside factors that result in someone failing an FST. It could be the case that the area in which the tests took place was poorly lit.
Or perhaps the driver was nervous and intimidated by the police officer. It could also simply be the case that the driver is naturally unsteady and uncoordinated on their feet. Whatever the case may be, a defense lawyer can argue that any DUI charge that stems from an FST is inaccurate.
Tainted Blood Test
A blood test is the most accurate and reliable way of measuring someone’s BAC because it actually measures how much alcohol is in their blood. However, even this test is not completely foolproof. That is because the blood sample can become contaminated while it is in storage, which could result in a tainted, inaccurate reading. If the blood is not stored properly, then it could ferment or become contaminated, which might create a false positive reading.
Rising Blood Alcohol Level
It can take some time for alcohol to be fully absorbed into the bloodstream because of a number of different factors, such as how much the person ate, and when they ate before consuming the alcohol. That means the level of alcohol in their blood rises steadily over time. So if that person takes a BAC test and it is discovered that they are over the legal limit, it is possible that they were below that limit when they were driving.
If there was a delay between the time of the BAC test and the time the driver was stopped, then a defense lawyer could argue that the driver’s BAC continued to rise after the stop and before the BAC test was taken. That would result in a high BAC even though the driver may have had a low BAC while they were driving.
Improper Police Stop
A police officer needs to have a valid reason to pull over a driver, a valid reason being that they suspect the driver of committing a crime or a traffic violation.
If the police officer had no reason to suspect that the driver was guilty of something, then the traffic stop can be considered illegal and anything that happens following that stop is invalid, including a sobriety or BAC test.
A top defense attorney can make the argument that the officer had no reason to believe the driver was engaging in an illegal act and so had no reason to pull them over and conduct a sobriety test.
Contact a Lawyer To Help You With Your DUI Case
The best way to avoid a DUI charge is to avoid drinking and driving in the first place. But if you do get in trouble, then you should contact a defense attorney as soon as possible.
A DUI charge is very serious and could lead to huge fines and a suspended driver’s license. So do not hesitate to contact an experienced defense attorney if you find yourself staring down the barrel of a DUI charge.
