Common Mistakes Made by the Police That You Can Use to Get Your DUI Case Dismissed in Arizona

If you have been unwise enough to have a few drinks before stepping behind the wheel of your car, you run the risk of being stopped and arrested on a DUI charge. As scary as the process of being stopped and charged for DUI is, it is important to know that every arrest does not have to result in a conviction. This is because the police are required to follow a strict operating procedure when charging people. In case, they have made any errors, your DUI lawyer will perhaps be able to get the case dismissed. Some of the more common mistakes made by the police that can help you to avoid prosecution:

Illegally Stopping the Vehicle or Person

As per the prevailing laws in Arizona, no police officer can stop you unless they have good and verifiable reason to believe that you have violated a traffic rule or committed a criminal offense. Even when the police have stopped you for a suspected or known traffic violation, they cannot extend the ambit of the stop either in duration or purpose without having a separate reason. In other words, if the police have stopped you for speeding, they cannot commence an investigation for DUI without having enough facts to suspect that you were under the influence. Unless the police have specific facts to support your arrest for DIU, the evidence collected by the police may be held inadmissible for prosecution by your DUI Lawyer Tucson.

Illegal Search

If the police have pulled over your car for a minor traffic offense, they cannot search you or your car without your consent or without having adequate reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Evidence that is collected illegally is not admissible in court and can lead to your DUI charge being dismissed.

Improper Administration of Field Sobriety Test

Field tests to establish sobriety are not admissible as evidence to support the claim of intoxication unless they have been properly administered. If you can prove that the sobriety test had not been properly administered by the police, you can get the DUI charge dismissed. For example, even when conducted on healthy people, tests like one-leg stand or walk-and-turn are not considered to be accurate. Additionally, these tests should not be conducted on people over the age of 65 or those who are overweight by more than 50 pounds. Similarly, non-standard field tests are held to be invalid. This means that if your DUI charge is based on your inability to count backward or to tell the letters of the alphabet, it can be held invalid. According to https://www.nytimes.com, poor calibration and maintenance of breathalyzers can also result in cases being dismissed.

Conclusion 

A DUI charge is extremely serious and has a lot of consequences not only for your reputation but also your ability to buy insurance as well as drive freely. Apart from the reasons discussed above, your DUI attorney can also get the case dismissed if he can cast doubts on the credibility of the police officer due to his record of making inconsistent written or verbal statements while testifying in court or a record of indiscipline.