If you are charged with driving under the influence, a conviction can lead to the loss of your driving privileges and other significant penalties. With a good attorney by your side, however, you can successfully defend yourself against this accusation. The most common defenses involve challenging the evidence presented.
It’s not unknown for the police to stop cars without the requisite reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is in the process of being committed. An improper stop constitutes a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. If you can show that the stop was inappropriate, all evidence gathered during the stop will become unusable. A Morristown criminal defense lawyer can determine if your rights were violated.
You may have been subjected to an improperly administered or inaccurate field sobriety test. If this has happened, you can challenge the validity of your DUI arrest. Fairly frequently, defendants challenge the HGN test, the test where the officer shines a light in the eyes and observes eye movements. Believe it or not, field sobriety tests are based more on tradition than research. This makes it relatively easy to challenge these tests in court. A Morristown DUI lawyer can advise if this is the right defense for you.
Your attorney may choose to challenge the results of your on-scene Breathalyzer test. It is not unknown for inexperienced officers to make mistakes while using a Breathalyzer. Vomiting can warp the results of any such test. Additionally, one may reasonably ask if the Breathalyzer received appropriate calibration and maintenance.
This is when the defense claims the defendant’s BAC was under the allowable legal limit while the defendant was driving but rose past the limit between the time of the stop and the time of the BAC test. This can happen because consumed alcohol takes time to become fully absorbed into one’s system.
Even if you think you might have been a bit inebriated when you were pulled over, you shouldn’t give up hope on defeating the charge. Just because you were drinking, that doesn’t mean you were breaking the law. Furthermore, every defendant automatically enjoys a presumption of innocence. It is incumbent on the prosecution to proactively prove your guilt using evidence. If the evidence isn’t there, you are entitled to an acquittal. By hiring a Morristown criminal defense lawyer, you can ensure you are given access to this or any other valid legal defense.
Though less common, the affirmative DUI defense is not unknown. In this type of defense, you don’t directly challenge the evidence. Instead, you present mitigating factors that make the prosecution’s evidence irrelevant or inapplicable. Affirmative DUI defenses include:
Having the assistance of an experienced New Jersey criminal defense attorney can vastly increase your chances of beating a drunk driving charge. To get the legal help you need in Morristown, contact Gregg Wisotsky today at (973) 898-0161.