Picture this: you meet up with friends for a few beers after work. When you hop in the car to drive home, you feel fine. Then, just a few blocks from your driveway, flashing blue and red lights appear in your rear-view mirror. As you pull over, your mouth goes dry, your heart starts racing, and you begin to wonder...am I really okay to drive? The officer makes contact with you, he puts you through a series of evaluations, and he subjects you to testing. You're arrested and taken to jail. In those few short minutes, your world has been turned upside down.
If you've recently been cited for Driving Under the Influence, you may be wondering what you could have done differently or what to do next. A criminal defense attorney can help you understand your situation, request crucial hearings, discover instances where your rights may have been violated, and protect your liberty and license moving forward. Here are some things we look at when evaluating your case:
The Traffic Stop
A traffic stop is a type of detention, so officers need some sort of justification to seize you. Specifically, they need reasonable, articulable suspicion that you have committed or are about to commit a crime. This is often demonstrated by a simple traffic violation; for example, not using a turn signal for an appropriate length of time or rolling through a stop sign. Other times, a person may have called you in as a possible drunk driver. Whether this tip was anonymous or from a known citizen informant dictates the corroboration required by the officer (for example, observing your driving pattern) when following up on the tip. Additionally, while an officer's flashing lights are a good indicator that you've been seized, there are other, less obvious ways an officer can seize you by engaging in conduct affecting your freedom to leave and go about your business.
Field Sobriety Testing
Once you have been seized for the traffic stop, the officer's primary mission is to address the tasks that warranted the stop in the first place. However, he (or she) may develop new reasonable suspicion for the crime of Driving Under the Influence after making contact with you. For example, the odor of alcohol, open containers, bloodshot and glassy eyes, slurred speech, and other signs of impairment may cause him to believe you are intoxicated. If he has reasonable suspicion that you are driving in violation of Idaho's DUI statute, he can administer field sobriety tests. These tests are also called SFSTs, or standardized field sobriety tests, as they are based on scientifically validated methods that, when administered in a standardized manner, are useful for detecting alcohol impairment. These tests - typically, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One Leg Stand - are complex undertakings that involve different instructions, observations, and clues. Again, as these tests are standardized, it is important that the officer conduct these tests the way they're meant to be done; otherwise, the results could be invalid.
Evidentiary Tests
Your performance on field sobriety tests may lead the officer to believe that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) puts you over the legal limit to drive - for adults 21+ in noncommercial vehicles, that's .08 in Idaho. If your BAC is .20 or more, you could be charged with Excessive DUI and face additional penalties. The way your BAC is determined is through evidentiary testing. For alcohol, this may include breath or blood testing (for drug impairment DUIs, a urine sample may be requested). These tests are performed in accordance with standard operating procedures governing the calibration of equipment, length of time between samples, the monitoring period before testing takes place, and other factors. Additionally, the officer must advise you of certain information prior to beginning the BAC testing process.
But can you refuse? Pursuant to state law, any person driving in Idaho is deemed to have consented to evidentiary testing. While this consent can be revoked by refusing to take the test(s), that refusal can have additional consequences - like a lengthy license suspension and civil penalty - even if you are not convicted in court for DUI. Further, even if you revoke your consent, your blood could still be drawn in exigent circumstances or upon the issuance of a warrant.
Depending on your test results, you may be served with a Notice of Suspension. This document puts you on notice that the Idaho Transportation Department is seeking to suspend your driving privileges, and it's important to request a hearing right away - within 7 days - to preserve your right to contest this decision. This is an especially important consideration for individuals with Commercial Driver Licenses.
Post-Evidentiary Testing
Though you do not have the right to consult with an attorney prior to evidentiary testing, you have the right to contact an attorney within a reasonable time after the State has completed its own testing. This is for the purpose of allowing you to gather your own evidence of sobriety or otherwise build a case for your innocence. This evidence should be gathered as soon as possible, as the metabolism of alcohol in the blood naturally causes signs of intoxication to dissipate with the passage of time.
Schwartz Law is here to help.
The bottom line is that DUI cases involve a careful analysis of the above factors and the circumstances, and an experienced DUI attorney can mean the difference between freedom and jail, or relying on Ubers and taxis instead of driving your own vehicle. Protect your liberty and your license - Schwartz Law is currently offering free consultations for DUI cases.
Christopher Schwartz, Lisa Chesebro, and Courtney Gillihan are criminal defense attorneys at Schwartz Law, P.C., 520 N. Government Way, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83814. For questions about criminal defense services, please call (208) 930-1300.
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by your use of this site or by contacting our office. Criminal law is complex and varies by jurisdiction; therefore, it is crucial to consult with a qualified attorney regarding your specific legal situation. Please do not rely solely on the information provided here; instead, seek professional legal counsel for advice tailored to your circumstances.
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