Potential defenses that can be raised on your behalf on any given drunk driving case are endless, because each case is unique. However, many of them can be broken down into the eleven following areas.
The first is that you weren't driving. Being intoxicated isn't enough to be charged. The prosecution must prove that you were the one driving the vehicle. In many cases there are no witnesses, but drivers quickly admit that they were driving, although they have the right to remain silent.
Another good one is probable cause. Much evidence will be suppressed if the officer didn't have probable cause to stop, detain and arrest you. Sobriety roadblocks are complex issues, but failing a field sobriety test does not mean you were legally intoxicated.
If you weren't given your Miranda rights at an appropriate time, incriminating statements you have made can be suppressed.
If the arresting officer didn't inform you of the consequences of refusing a sobriety test, or told you incorrectly, this could make the test results inadmissible, and could get you your license back if it's been suspended.
The observations and opinions of the officer can be questioned. The subjective nature of what the arresting officer personally considers failing, as well as the circumstances under which the field sobriety test was given are areas to probe. If there are any, witnesses can testify as to whether or not you appeared to be sober.
There is a wide range of problems that can potentially come up in blood, breath, and urine testing. Most breathalyser machines register many chemical compounds found naturally in the human mouth as alcohol. Breath machines assume a 2100-to-1 ration in converting alcohol on your breath into alcohol in the blood, but this can very widely from person to person and from one minute to another.
Even radio frequencies can interfere and result in inaccurate readings. These and other analysis defects can be pulled out in cross-examination of the expert witness presented by the state, or the defense can hire it's own forensic chemist.
If you're tested during a time when your body is absorbing alcohol or other chemicals, the sobriety tests can and will be unreliable. It can take up to three hours for your body to completely absorb alcohol or other drugs, and it can be even slower if you have food in your stomach. "Drinking one for the road" can cause results to show as much higher than the actually are.
A number of complex physiological problems are involved in the requirement that the blood-alcohol concentration level to be "related back" in time from the test to the driving.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the state must adhere to certain blood-alcohol testing. The prosecution has to prove that the test you submit complied with your state's requirements. These include calibration, maintenance, and procedural requirements by the administrators of the tests.
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