Don't Hand the Officer a DUI: Know Your Rights
More people are arrested for driving under the influence than any other crime in the United States. No matter whether you are affluent, middle class or poor, you are susceptible to a DUI arrest.
When pulled over for a DUI, there are a couple of things one should keep in mind. The first is that one should be respectful. The officer is only doing his or her job. Address questions asked of you directly, and only answer what is asked. The second point to remember is that your cooperation with law enforcement should end when you start incriminating yourself. Thanks to the Fifth Amendment of the federal Constitution, we have been assured the immutable right against incriminating ourselves. The fifty states have their own constitutional counterparts to the federal amendment. One should never feel obligated to incriminate oneself.
For example, if you are asked by the police if you have been drinking, you should actually feel obligated not to answer. You should feel no obligation to answer questions about the specific amount you may have been drinking. If the officer asks you to step out of the car, you may then ask if you are under arrest. At no time must you exit the vehicle and perform any tests or answer any further questions. Common field sobriety tests (FSTs) can be failed by someone who is completely sober. One can perform substandardly on the one-legged stand or the line walk for a variety of reasons, none of which is intoxication. In short, they don't tell much about your sobriety, but failure or a deficient performance on any one of them creates the perception, as wrong as it may be, of guilt.
The lesson to always be remembered is that you are not required to offer evidence against yourself. The fate of your charge and how it is handled rest entirely with the prosecutor, no matter what the officer at the scene may promise you. At the very most, be cordial, respectful and polite, but do not cave to the pressure to "cooperate". It will not make things better, and almost always makes things worse. I have never in all my years of practice thought "Gee, I wish my client would have talked to the cops more." Indeed, I say the precise opposite regarding my clients often - I wish they had talked less. Often, a lot less!
If you do not offer a breath sample or a blood sample, and do not participate in any field sobriety tests, you stand a good chance of getting the initial DUI charge reduced or dismissed. This isn't manipulating the system - it's simply exercising your constitutional rights. You can only exercise them if you know them, and that's the point of this article, to make sure you are properly educated and equipped in the event you are ever stopped and arrested for something you may in fact not have done.
When pulled over for a DUI, there are a couple of things one should keep in mind. The first is that one should be respectful. The officer is only doing his or her job. Address questions asked of you directly, and only answer what is asked. The second point to remember is that your cooperation with law enforcement should end when you start incriminating yourself. Thanks to the Fifth Amendment of the federal Constitution, we have been assured the immutable right against incriminating ourselves. The fifty states have their own constitutional counterparts to the federal amendment. One should never feel obligated to incriminate oneself.
For example, if you are asked by the police if you have been drinking, you should actually feel obligated not to answer. You should feel no obligation to answer questions about the specific amount you may have been drinking. If the officer asks you to step out of the car, you may then ask if you are under arrest. At no time must you exit the vehicle and perform any tests or answer any further questions. Common field sobriety tests (FSTs) can be failed by someone who is completely sober. One can perform substandardly on the one-legged stand or the line walk for a variety of reasons, none of which is intoxication. In short, they don't tell much about your sobriety, but failure or a deficient performance on any one of them creates the perception, as wrong as it may be, of guilt.
The lesson to always be remembered is that you are not required to offer evidence against yourself. The fate of your charge and how it is handled rest entirely with the prosecutor, no matter what the officer at the scene may promise you. At the very most, be cordial, respectful and polite, but do not cave to the pressure to "cooperate". It will not make things better, and almost always makes things worse. I have never in all my years of practice thought "Gee, I wish my client would have talked to the cops more." Indeed, I say the precise opposite regarding my clients often - I wish they had talked less. Often, a lot less!
If you do not offer a breath sample or a blood sample, and do not participate in any field sobriety tests, you stand a good chance of getting the initial DUI charge reduced or dismissed. This isn't manipulating the system - it's simply exercising your constitutional rights. You can only exercise them if you know them, and that's the point of this article, to make sure you are properly educated and equipped in the event you are ever stopped and arrested for something you may in fact not have done.
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