Best DUI Defenses

Best DUI defenses:

Our attorneys are experienced using many different defenses to help clients fight their DUI charges. The following are a few of the most common, and most successful defenses that are often used for a DUI. For a free consultation about your case call 530-580-8529 for Chico’s best DUI attorney!

There was no legal reason for the police to stop you.

There needs to be a legitimate reason for the police to stop you. This is probable cause, a legal standard that requires law enforcement to have sufficient facts and circumstances to reasonably believe that a crime has been, is being committed. The officer must see “ bad driving” such as weaving in the roadway. Many arresting agencies have dash cameras to record the manner in which you are driving. We can write a subpoena to get the video footage and defend your case. You can also be pulled over for equipment violations, such as a tail light out, or the car registration is not current. Current law- an officer cannot pull a vehicle over solely for having an expired registration sticker unless two months have passed since the expiration month indicated on the sticker.

“No Driving” Defense:

 A person can be charged with a DUI even though the police did not see them driving. Indications of driving, such as the car hood is warm, the keys are in the ignition, and the engine is running and no one else is around, are circumstantial evidence of driving. A person sitting in their car listening to the radio for example. If the car is no moving and parked safely, it is difficult to prove driving. An officer arrives on the scene of an incident where the accused is already out of his vehicle, which doesn’t prevent someone  from being arrested for DUI. Our investigator will talk with you and witnesses and get statements as to who was driving and when. Simply sitting in a car while under the influence is not illegal. A valid arrest is when someone is DRIVING under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both.

Drinking After Driving Defense

Having a drink after driving is a legitimate defense to DUI. A typical drinking after driving DUI defense is when someone is involved in an incident or their car breaks down and shortly thereafter they have a drink. A client whose car breaks down, and is waiting for a tow truck for example, might have a drink after the car broke down. Some people accused of DUI have a drink after they stop the car. Importantly, is perfectly legal to be impaired in your home, in a parked car, or even, for the purposes of DUI, on the side of the road. Drinking after you stop the car is not a DUI.

Rising Alcohol Level Defense

 Rising Blood Alcohol Defense. A legitimate defense to a DUI arrest is a rising blood alcohol defense. This could be that a person was drinking shortly before driving. Alcohol takes time absorb into a person’s blood stream. So, a person may be sober or under 0.08 blood alcohol level while driving but under the influence over 0.08 at the time the are tested after arrest. The most viable blood alcohol defenses occur when an accused is stopped soon after drinking. The alcohol level at the time of driving is not exactly the same as the level at the time police check alcohol levels. Thus, they were not under the influence or driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher. In many instances in California a person is given two breath tests, one directly after being stopped called a PAS (preliminary alcohol screening) test and a breathalyzer test at the station. A rising blood alcohol defense can be won many times when the second breath test read out is higher than the first PAS test. A timeline for a reasonable assessment of your alcohol levels can be addressed by your attorney.