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Ways of defending against drunk driving charges

On Behalf of | Sep 17, 2020 | Firm News |

Drunk driving charges can change the life of an accused driver in an instant and threaten them personally, professionally and financially. Accused drivers can face jail time, fines and a loss of their driver’s license among other possible penalties and consequences. For that reason, accused drivers should be familiar with the different ways to defend themselves against drunk driving charges.

Drunk driving defense options

There are a variety of different drunk driving defense options accused drivers should be familiar with. Preparing a strong criminal defense strategy is essential so accused drivers should consider defense options including:

  • Improper stop: To begin with, every drunk driving charge should be evaluated based on how it started which is with a traffic stop. If authorities lacked the appropriate legal basis for stopping the accused driver, it may be one way of challenging the drunk driving charges that followed.
  • Accuracy of field sobriety test: If the accused driver was given a field sobriety test, there are certain requirements associated with field sobriety tests that must be met to trust their accuracy at determining intoxication. The police officer administering the field sobriety test must be trained to do so and must administer the field sobriety test in accordance with the training they received.
  • Accuracy of breathalyzer test: Breathalyzer tests must meet a variety of requirements in order to be considered reliable. Breathalyzer tests must be routinely maintained and calibrated at set intervals. In addition, the police officer administering the breathalyzer test must be trained to administer that particular test and must do so in accordance with the training they have received. The police officer administering the test must also ensure that the accused driver’s bodily fluids do not interfere with the breathalyzer test results.

Additional defense options

In addition, there are other possible options for challenging drunk driving charges including a category of defenses that may apply in some circumstances referred to as affirmative defenses. The best criminal defense strategy is different for each accused driver based on the circumstances and charges they are facing which is why they should be familiar with the different options to determine which can help them the most.