How to Find Out Whether or Not Your DUI Arrest Was Lawful

By Fiona Baron


The peace officers within this country do a courageous and wonderful job of protecting us, and they certainly deserve our gratitude and appreciation. But that does not imply that they are not susceptible to human error, or that they are always right. You are likely very scared and confused if you live in the state of California and have been charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, also referred to as DUI. If you are arrested, it may be life altering, and also the loss in freedom may be an extremely tough concept to understand. It's an essential thing to have a Sacramento DUI lawyer review the circumstances of your arrest, because sometimes it is found that a DUI arrest wasn't lawfully executed. Let's look at DUI arrests in California a bit more closely, so you can compare your arrest to what should/should not happen.

The Criminal Process of Driving Under the Influence

If you are charged with DUI, your initial criminal process begins when a field sobriety test is administered, or if perhaps an officer thinks that there is probable cause to arrest you for DUI. Generally, whenever a DUI lawyer is trying to find out if your DUI arrest was lawful, then the stop itself will possibly be called into question. The law enforcement officer that stops you will need to have reason for this, or he may be violating your civil rights. An arrest for driving drunk can happen whenever:

- A police officer observes you committing the crime of driving while impaired. An officer of the law has the right to pull you over and administer tests to ascertain if you are drunk or otherwise if he witnesses you driving in a suspect manner. For example, if an officer observes you driving in an erratic manner, he then has got the authority to pull you over. You will be arrested if he or she has administered a breathalyzer test and standard field sobriety tests and determines that you're above the legal limit to be driving.

- A police officer has reason to believe you have committed the crime of DUI. If this is the circumstance, then the officer must have legal justification and probable grounds for the DUI arrest. He's allowed to take you into custody for DUI if there are actually any strong indicators that you have been driving intoxicated. For instance, if you are driving erratically and the officer pulls you over on suspicion of DUI, and then notices an empty liquor bottle in the seat beside you, and the odor of liquor in your breath. These observations constitute cause of the officer to ask you to take field sobriety tests. Based on how you carry out the tests, the officer actually may have probable cause for the opinion that you have been drunk driving, and he may arrest you.

Absent probable cause or sufficient evidence, your DUI arrest may very well be unlawful. If you've been truly pulled over for no good reason, you could have a basis for having the charge thrown out of court, even though you were actually above the legal limit. Contact your Sacramento DUI attorney to discover your defenses against an unlawful DUI stop.




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