Challenging Your DUI Charge
You may be looking at some serious penalties if police arrest you for a DUI charge, or driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs. A vigorous defense can minimize or even eliminate those consequences. It is in your best interest to have an experienced DUI attorney on your side to ensure the best outcomes in your case.
DUI Legal Penalties
If you are asked to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test by a law enforcement officer and you refuse, you are subject to a one-year suspension of your driver’s license. But even one DUI charge or conviction can lead to a record that follows you for years. Depending on the circumstances of your arrest, you could face hefty fines, community service requirements, probation, imprisonment, license revocation, DUI School, and ignition interlock installation on your vehicle. None of these consequences are pleasant.
Probable Cause
An officer cannot require you to undergo a field sobriety test or other testing for DUI without probable cause. Generally speaking, you must commit a fairly egregious driving error in order for police to stop your vehicle.
Challenging the Blood Test
Key challenges to blood tests include:
- Poor training of the person who drew the blood;
- Poor record keeping;
- Missteps in the collection process;
- Discrepancies in the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of driving compared to the time of the blood test.
Since the blood test is a key piece of evidence that will be used against you, challenging the veracity of the blood test results is an important piece of your defense. Clearly, there may be an affect on the integrity of the blood specimen by how it is drawn. In all likelihood, the person who collected the sample had only about 40 hours of training. Nonetheless, law enforcement asks that you trust your future to their competence.
Blood Test Questions
Did police draw your blood soon after the DUI charge? Your BAC level may increase as time goes on, making your level at the time of the draw significantly different from the level at the time of driving. Preservative powder of the right type and amount must be used to ensure fermentation does not occur in the tube of blood. Testers must properly store the mixture of blood and the correct amount of anticoagulant powders. If errors in these procedures occur, the results of the blood draw may not be accurate.
What about after they collect the blood? If they do not refrigerate and store the blood properly, false positives may be the result. Not to mention, once the blood reaches the lab for analysis, further errors may occur. The Gas Chromatograph used to measure alcohol content in the blood may confuse other compounds for alcohol. Even when it measures alcohol content correctly, it cannot determine whether the alcohol detected was formed during the delay or whether it was actually in the person’s body at the time of collection, nonetheless at the time of driving.
After all, forensic labs do not frequently study and report error rates for this type of testing. It seems ridiculous to let your future rest on the results of such an arbitrary system.
Fighting Back
At the Robert Foley Law Firm, our knowledgeable team knows just what to look for when examining your arrest record. We will fight to ensure the best outcomes for our clients. Contact us today for a confidential consultation.
