Understanding DUI Defenses
If you are charged with a DWI offense, you can defend that charge against you in Bakersfield Superior court. However, it is quite difficult to defend your case, but an officer's observations regarding the happenings of the incident are quite commonly attacked in court. Take a look at few of the different defenses.
Affirmative Defenses against DWI Charges
Here are few affirmative defenses that are often used against DWI charges.
- Necessity: If you have been driving erratically to prevent the onset of a big potential problem then you can defend your case in You will need to prove that you had no other choice, but to act in that manner and if another bigger problem had materialized, it would have inflicted a much greater harm than that caused by your behavior.
- Duress: If you are driving while impaired for saving somebody's life, or to save your own life, then you won't be charged with DWI For example, if you are forced to drive while you are intoxicated, then you can defend your case in court easily, but you will have to give a sound evidence to prove your point.
- Mistake of Fact: If you are unaware of the fact that you are impaired, then too, you can fight against the charges in Bakersfield Superior court. An example could be that you were under medication, but did not know that it caused
- Entrapment: If you are requested to drive while being intoxicated by an officer of law, then too, you can defend your case during your trial. You must be able to justify that had the officer not forced you, you wouldn't have used the car while you were
- Unintentional Intoxication: If you have ingested alcohol, but are unaware of it, then you have the right to defend your case. For instance, if the fruit punch in the party you attended that day contained alcohol, but you were unaware of this fact, then you can easily defend yourself in
Widely Used Drunk Driving Justifications
Take a look at the commonly used drunk driving justifications:
Administration of the Field Sobriety Tests: If the field sobriety tests weren't administered correctly, or had inaccurate results, then you can dispute against them in Bakersfield Superior court. The horizontal Nystagmus test is often challenged in court
- Improper Stop: Your attorney can claim that you were improperly stopped by the officer as he did not have any genuine cause for making you pull over. This defense is widely practiced by lawyers in court. For instance, if the Bakersfield police officer stopped you because of your bad driving skills and charged you with a DUI offense, your attorney can defend you in court on the basis of the fact that a sober person can be a poor driver as well. It is not necessary for an intoxicated person to drive poorly. Sober people can be terrible drivers too. Hence, an officer cannot charge you with a DWI crime based on your driving pattern.
- Odor of Alcohol: Officers can charge you with a DWI offense if they smell alcohol on your breath. However, alcohol is odorless and it is the smell of its ingredients that people often mistake as the odor of alcohol. Hence, your attorney can dispute this charge if he can prove that the smell was due to similar ingredients, and you weren't intoxicated.
- Watery Eyes, Flushed Face and Slurred Speech: Often if a Bakersfield police officer finds you having red and watery eyes, a flushed face or finds your speech slurry, it is likely that he will charge you with a DWI crime. However, you can defend your condition if you or your attorney can present evidence in Bakersfield Superior court that shows that your condition was due to a medical disorder, or any other
- Administration of the Portable Breathalyzer Exam: The breathalyzer exam is often subjected to being inaccurate. This is because the roadside breathalyzers used by the officers aren't that reliable in measuring the alcohol level in your Moreover, the officer has to read the needle on the breathalyzer and he can make a mistake in reading it correctly.
- Inaccuracy of the Standard Breathalyzer Exam: The standard breathalyzer exam is normally conducted in the Bakersfield police station where you are required to provide samples of your breath to a more reliable breath testing device compared to the portable breathalyzer. Although it is more trustworthy than the portable breathalyzer, the results can still be
- Administration of the Blood Alcohol Test: The administration and accuracy of the results of the blood alcohol test is questioned in this case. Your attorney can argue that the test was mishandled which resulted in the distortion of its
Increase in the Level of Blood Alcohol: Using this defense claim, your attorney can make the judge and jury believe that the blood alcohol concentration in your system was quite below the legitimate limit while you were driving, but it increased when you were stopped and asked to submit to the test. This is only possible when you have consumed alcohol a little time before getting in the car, and it will take its time to get completely absorbed into your bloodstream
- Officer Did Not Carry out an Observation Period: Before administering a breathalyzer exam, an officer must properly examine you for fifteen minutes. If your attorney can prove that you weren't observed properly by the officer for fifteen minutes, then your case can be easily
Other Defenses
Here are some more defenses that are less commonly practiced than the ones discussed
above for the reason that they aren't very effective:
- Accused wasn't driving the Vehicle: In some cases, it is possible that you are accused of driving while being intoxicated, but you aren't the actual driver of the For instance, you switched positions in the car with the drunk driver as you thought you were sober.
- Indecent Actions of Bakersfield Police Officers: If the Bakersfield police officers behaved improperly with you, or made a biased report, then you can press charges against them to defend your