When you’re arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVWI, more commonly known as DUI), it may feel like the deck is stacked against you. As any honest Indiana DUI lawyer will tell you, it is.
Maybe you had the privilege of spending the night in jail. Maybe you learned the hard way that the State can suspend your license for a chemical test failure even when you haven’t been convicted. And you still have court dates to look forward to!
A lot of people tend to think there’s nothing you can do to defend against DUI charges. In some cases, this is basically correct. When the police have done everything by the book and the prosecutor’s office has a bunch of indisputable evidence against you, that might be a good time to consider a plea.
But if there are some DUI cases where a conviction seems inevitable, there are other cases where it doesn’t. Here are some things worth considering.
Are There Witnesses?
If you tell a police officer that you were driving, this point is going to be hard to contest. But if you aren’t offering information, operation can be a little more difficult for the State to prove.
Did anyone see you driving the car? Did law enforcement observe you driving, or are they drawing conclusions based on circumstantial evidence?
When Was the Certified Chemical Test Administered?
When the State plays by the rules, the prosecutor in a DUI case is allowed to rely on what’s known as the statutory presumption. This may sound innocuous, but it’s a big deal.
When the prosecutor enters the results of a certified chemical test into evidence at trial, the presumption of the defendant’s innocence is replaced by a presumption of their guilt. Good luck proving that you weren’t intoxicated at a specific point in the past.
Because the statutory presumption carries so much weight, the prosecutor can only use it when the certified chemical test was administered within three hours of the alleged intoxicated driving. Without the statutory presumption to rely on, the prosecutor has a much harder fight.
Was the Procedure Followed?
If a certified chemical test result was obtained outside the three-hour window, the State is not entitled to the statutory presumption, but the result may still be admitted into evidence.
If, on the other hand, the test itself was not administered properly, those results are excluded from evidence. For a breath test, police officers are obligated to follow the instructions laid out in the Indiana Administrative Code. For a blood draw, every hospital has a procedure that nurses are supposed to follow.
If the certified chemical test might be an issue in your case, remember: There’s only one right way to do it; every other possible way is the wrong way.
Were You Properly Mirandized?
Miranda rights are designed to protect your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. If you’re in custody and a police officer is questioning you, they’re required to provide a Miranda warning: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney . . .
The question of being in custody usually turns on the answer to Am I free to leave? If you’re free to leave, you can’t be in custody, and if you’re in custody, you can’t be free to leave. But what about a traffic stop? How long can the police detain you before you’re legally in custody?
What about following a car crash? When officers arrive to investigate, you’re not in custody, but you aren’t free to leave either. In a scenario where it’s not obvious when Miranda should have come into play, it helps to have an experienced Indiana DUI lawyer on your side.
Is the Arresting Officer Up to Date on Their DUI Training?
When an officer is conducting a standardized field sobriety test, (SFST) they’re not allowed to improvise. These tests have been designed and approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and if they aren’t administered precisely, they’re bound to produce unreliable results.
Did the arresting officer know what they were doing? When was the last time they refreshed their SFST training? Were there any medical conditions or environmental factors that the officer failed to take into account?
Make the Right Call
The Marc Lopez Law Firm has been defending people facing DUI charges for over a decade, and we handle these cases every day. If you need an Indiana DUI lawyer, call us today at 317-489-9611, and remember—always plead the Fifth!
