Officer Mistakes Could Play Significant Role In Your DUI Defense

You may take pride in yourself for doing your best to make the best decisions possible for certain situations. Of course, everyone makes mistakes at some point, and you may have found yourself in a serious predicament due to a choice you made. If that scenario involved consuming alcohol and then getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, you may face criminal charges.

You may have chosen to drive because, even though you had a couple of drinks, you did not feel impaired. However, an officer may have pulled you over nonetheless and had you conduct field sobriety tests and breath tests. The officer may have considered you intoxicated at the time of the arrest, especially if your blood alcohol concentration level reached or exceeded .08 percent. Now you may need information on criminal defense options.

Officer mistakes

Fortunately, a number of defense avenues exist for individuals accused of DUI. The path you choose to take may depend on your specific circumstances and personal feelings toward your available options. However, one aspect of your defense you may wish to consider relates to determining whether officers made any mistakes during your arrest or during the handling of evidence.

Law enforcement officials have certain steps and procedures that they should follow while conducting a traffic stop, making an arrest and gathering evidence. Additionally, some officers may not have the ability to perform certain actions, such as administering breath tests, if they do not have the proper certifications to do so. Some mistakes you may want to look for in the review of your arrest include:

• No reason for initially stopping your vehicle
• Misbehavior on the part of the officer during field sobriety tests
• Incorrectly administering your breath test
• Administering a breath test without certification
• Mishandling evidence

These examples represent only a few possible mistakes or violations of procedures that officers could make.

Using those mistakes

If you believe that the arresting officer may not have acted appropriately during your arrest, you may wish to find out more information to determine whether you may be correct. If so, the evidence that officers gathered through inappropriate means will likely prove inadmissible in court. If you would like to learn more about police procedures during DUI arrests and how mistakes could play into your defense, you may wish to utilize local legal resources.