DUI/DWI DEFENSE - Hiring a DUI/DWI Lawyer

Just as you wouldn’t hire your family doctor to perform brain surgery, you should be very careful when selecting an attorney to defend you if you’ve been charged with DUI. With the continuing emphasis on DUI in the media and the trend toward increased penalties, even for first time offenders with a low blood-alcohol concentration (“BAC”), it is important that you choose an attorney knowledgeable in all areas of DUI law. It might be ok to hire a “jack-of-all trades” attorney to sell your house or write your will, but you may want to think twice about this when your freedom is potentially at stake.

There are defenses available to almost every set of facts in a DUI case, depending upon the specific type of evidence in each case. The trick is knowing what to look for and how to use those facts in creating a defense to the allegation of driving under the influence. Questions to think about are: did the officer have cause to stop you, cause to have you perform field sobriety tests, and cause to take you for a chemical test? Were the field sobriety tests valid? Do they have any correlation to intoxication? Was the officer trained in the field sobriety tests that you performed? Did the officer inform you about the implied consent rule? Was the breath machine used to test you calibrated? Was the officer who gave the test trained and certified to give you the breath test (which is required)? Do you have any medical problems that might have impacted your performance on field sobriety tests or influenced your BAC reading? Of course, this information in the hands of an attorney that does not know how to evaluate it is useless.

Another important piece of evidence that will be used against you is the police report. In addition to the countless police reports that I wrote over my 15-year police career, I also spent 7 years as a lieutenant reading and approving thousands upon thousands of police reports. This is a critical piece of evidence that will be used against you in your case.

Some reports are well written, while others are so poorly written that it looks like they should have been written in crayon. I can usually tell from one reading of a report whether the officer is experienced with making DUI arrests. An experienced officer writes a very detailed report that will probably not have many obvious holes in it. A less-experienced (or less-conscientious) officer usually writes a poor report, with very little information and many holes in it. The important thing about whether the report is well written is that, based on my experience, this is an indication of how the officer will testify. This is usually one of many factors in deciding whether to fight your case aggressively, or to look for another option, such as ARD or a plea bargain. All police reports need to be properly evaluated because the best and most experienced police officers sometimes make mistakes that may unravel their case against you.

When you consult with an attorney, make sure that all of your options are explained. Make sure that the attorney explains why he/she thinks that the arrest will stand up in court, or the areas of the case that appear weak and vulnerable to attack. Make sure that you understand your options with respect to ARD, a plea bargain or taking your case to trial. Not every first time DUI offender needs to go to ARD, while not every third time offender needs to go to trial. Be careful if an attorney seems to be pushing you in a certain direction without taking the time to evaluate your case properly or to explain all your options. This attorney might not have your best interests at heart.

With your liberty potentially at stake, your ability to drive and maintain your employment at stake, and several thousands of dollars of potential fines and attorney fees at stake, you should demand information about the potential outcomes of your case whether it goes to trial, is resolved with a plea bargain or with acceptance into the ARD program so that you may make an informed decision about how you want to proceed, without feeling pushed one way or another.