Drunk Driving cases follow a certain protocol. The most important part of that is the stop, or the reason for the stop itself. Once the Police pull you over for something, everything is pretty much done by the book, or at least it's supposed to be.

And let's face facts, not many Police Officers are going to say they pulled a car over for no reason.

Even if you don't recall being pulled over for exactly what they claim you were doing, the Police are not going to say they were just bored and looking for someone to pull over for the fun of it. The point is, unless you can show that the Police reason for pulling you over was fabricated or unlawful, the stop is usually going to stand up to a legal challenge.

The majority of DUI arrests begin with the Police Officer noticing signs of intoxication, or some kind of erratic, illegal, or suspicious Driving. The Driver is pulled over, and asked out of the vehicle.

Next come what are called Field Sobriety Tests, which are tests like walking heel to toe, touching your nose with your index finger with your arm held out at arms length, reciting a specific part of the alphabet without singing it, and counting backwards from one number to another. Sometimes, the police will have your follow a light with your eyes. This is called the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (NSG) Test, and is virtually foolproof for detection of being under the influence of alcohol.

Anyone who fails one or more of these tests is then put in the back of the Police car and is next given what is called a PBT, or Preliminary Breath Test. This portable unit gives a reading of a person’s breath alcohol level. When you are over the limit, or close to it (.08 in all states) you will find yourself under Arrest and getting a ride to the Police Station.

At the police station, you will next be asked to take another Breath Test on a larger machine. This is called the Datamaster, and it is supposed to be much more accurate than the portable unit. If you have been charged with Drunk Driving and did not refuse to take this test, then you were sent home later with, amongst other things, a big pink slip of paper that looks like and over-sized store receipt. This is your Datamaster result.

This is another prime area where evidence can be challenged and DUI Lawyers can win their cases. There are many experts who will testify about various accuracy problems with this machine. Depending on who you believe, this machine can be anywhere from extremely accurate, to fairly inaccurate. When a person blows into this machine and gets a result under, right on, or very close to the legal limit, theses experts might be able to convince a jury, depending on a number of other circumstances, such as the time between the traffic stop and the time you blew into the machine, that the reading is unreliable as a determination of what your actual Bodily Alcohol Content (BAC) was at the time you were driving.

If a Judge or Jury cannot trust this evidence, then you could be found "Not Guilty" of the DUI charge.

In cases where this evidence is, in my view, really disputable in your favor, I would always suggest that you challenge it.

If the breath result is accurate or high enough to survive a legal challenge, and if there is no real way to challenge the Police stop of your vehicle, or the other circumstances of your Arrest, then paying Legal Fees that would cover the Trial of the Century is really a huge waste of money.

Unless there is an honest and realistic prospect of beating the case, then fighting for the sake of fighting alone wastes not only your money, and a lot of it, but just as important, it wastes the opportunity to do serious damage control and avoid a lot of negative consequences that could be gained through a Plea Bargain, or some kind of Sentence Bargain.

In other words, you spend a lot more to end up with a lot less. I have never, and will never undertake such a course of action.

This is, and should be standard operating procedure when evaluating a DUI charge.

Of course, there are loads of other scenarios where you might question the Police evidence against you. Sometimes these cases involve being arrested for a DUI after the car has been parked, and no one is in it.

Other times, a person may be sitting in a parked car, with the ignition off. Interestingly, in Michigan, sitting behind the wheel of a car, with the keys in the ignition, but the car not running, in a place publicly accessible, (like in a parking lot, or on the side of the road) is enough to sustain a DUI charge and get a person convicted.

The point is, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

I’ll thoroughly evaluate your case and tell you honestly if there appears to be a way out of it.

When you don't have a clear way out, then it's time to look for damage control. In those cases, I can help you in more ways than you can imagine. Even in the cases that appear hopeless, lots can be done to spare you unnecessary misery.

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