A charge of driving under the influence of alcohol can have a widespread effect on your life, ranging from your career to your standing within the community. For this reason, if you find yourself in this position, it’s best to learn more about the many types of drunk driving defense strategies that are available to you.
Before you do anything, keep in mind that the drunk driving defense strategy you choose is based largely on the circumstances of your arrest and details of your case. Some of your options include:
- Improper stop: Police officers don’t have the legal authority to make a traffic stop for no reason. The officer must have probable cause. Without this, you may be able to argue for a dismissal of your case.
- Improper administration of field sobriety tests: The arresting officer is likely to use at least one field sobriety test to better understand if you’re under the influence of alcohol. While these can be helpful, it’s also possible for improper administration to occur.
- Increasing blood alcohol concentration: Police will test your blood alcohol concentration level to determine if you’re driving under the influence. However, when they do this is critical to securing an accurate result. Your blood alcohol concentration has the potential to increase between the time of your initial stop and when the officer administers a Breathalyzer test. If this happens, and depending on the result, it’s possible that you were not legally intoxicated when driving.
- Inaccurate Breathalyzer test: A portable Breathalyzer is not guaranteed to share accurate results. For example, improper maintenance can result in an inaccurate reading, thus giving the officer reason to believe you’re intoxicated when you’re not.
On the plus side, it’s good to know that there is more than one drunk driving defense strategy to employ. Conversely, with so many options, you need to compare the details of each one to ensure that you choose the strategy that gives you the best chance of avoiding a conviction.
As you learn more about each type of drunk driving defense strategy, you can compare it alongside the circumstances of your arrest to better understand which one makes the most sense.