Only a few things are more sobering than facing DUI charges. A conviction could result in consequences that may follow you into the future. Unfortunately, even though DUI charges can be beaten with the right approach, the myths and misinformation surrounding them can result in the defendants believing particular things that are merely not true, consequently jeopardizing their future. This blog will teach you about the most prevalent myths surrounding DUI charges. You can also contact a DUI defense attorney to learn more.
You Do Not Need a Lawyer to Fight DUI Charges
While you do not technically require a lawyer to tackle any legal problem on your behalf, trying to fight DUI charges yourself would be foolish. Without a skilled DUI lawyer's assistance, you will likely be unable to have the judge dismiss your case or lower your charges. Note that defendants who represent themselves are given the same treatment as lawyers.
Even if a first-offense DUI is deemed a misdemeanor violation, a conviction carries a hefty fine, license suspension, and a possible jail term. Only an experienced attorney can develop the most appropriate defense to fight these charges. They will defend your legal rights and do everything possible to help you lower charges or avoid a conviction. Considering you lack proper education, this will be hard to achieve by yourself.
You Can Only Face DUI Charges If Your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Is Above 0.08 Percent
This is false. You could still face DUI charges under California VC Section 23152, even if your BAC level is lower than 0.08 percent. For example, if your blood alcohol content is 0.07 percent, but the arresting officer can show you were weaving between lanes, driving erratically, or were otherwise alcohol-impaired, you could still face DUI charges. Your BAC does not need to be 0.08 percent or more to be deemed intoxicated with alcohol or drugs.
You Cannot Challenge Field Sobriety Tests
It is not true that you cannot contest field sobriety tests. Field sobriety tests can be wrong. If the D.A. has charged you with driving under the influence for failing field sobriety tests, a lawyer can help you demonstrate that you were not intoxicated with alcohol.
If, for example, you are suffering from a disability or medical condition that makes it challenging for you to, let us say, walk in a straight line, your lawyer can apply this defense strategy to fight your DUI charges.
Refusing to Submit to Breathalyzer Testing Can Prevent a DUI Charge
You could refuse to take a breathalyzer test in California. However, doing so could still result in a DUI arrest. In fact, should you decline to take a chemical DUI breath test and the arresting officer reasonably believes you are intoxicated with alcohol, you could face DUI and chemical test refusal charges, and a conviction will likely subject you to a one-year suspension of your driver's license, among other consequences.
Breathalyzer Test Results Cannot be Proven Incorrect
Breathalyzer machines can, and frequently are, found to be faulty or the tests wrongly administered. If breathalyzer test results are demonstrated to be inaccurate in any given way, a judge can consider them inadmissible in court as evidence, which may lead to DUI charges being essentially dismissed.
You Must Agree to Field Sobriety Testing When a Law Enforcement Officer Requests You to Take Them
You do not have to submit to field sobriety testing, and you want to abstain from taking those tests. The police officer who stops you for suspected DUI may attempt to make you believe that you must take the tests by the way they ask you to take them, although you are not legally obligated to agree.
Field sobriety tests (FSTs) are contingent on being capable of performing complicated maneuvers requiring agility and coordination that some individuals do not have, regardless of the physical state they are in. Additionally, several environmental elements could impact a person's capacity to pass these tests. Furthermore, if you prevail in these tests, you may still be placed under arrest for drunk driving. It is, therefore, never wise to agree to take field sobriety tests.
You Must Answer a Law Enforcement Officer's Questions During a DUI Stop
Most people think the faster they respond to the officer's questions during a DUI stop, the quicker the officer will let them go. That is not true. Note that you could easily incriminate yourself by answering the officer's questions.
You can courteously decline to answer any of their questions and say you are exercising your right to remain silent. Always know that the officer could use whatever you say against you in court. But the law requires you to show the officer your registration and driver's license.
Driving a Boat While Intoxicated Is Not Unlawful
Most people believe they can avoid drunk-driving charges by taking the party to the sea. But the truth is, you could face charges for boating while intoxicated under the California Harbors and Navigation Code (HNC) 655. This code section distinguishes between alcohol levels in the blood. Generally, you will be considered intoxicated if your BAC level is 0.08 percent or more.
You Will Be Released If You Pass Your Breathalyzer Test
This prevalent California DUI myth is not true. A police officer who strongly suspects you have been driving under the influence can also perform chemical tests of your blood and urine, which are better indicators that you have been driving while intoxicated with alcohol or drugs or impaired.
If the blood or urine tests turn out to be negative, you will be set free since the specific law enforcement officer might have made an incorrect assumption or was trying to implicate you without reasonable grounds.
Riding a Bike While Intoxicated Is Lawful
Most people think riding a bike to or from a party or bar can prevent them from facing the severe repercussions of a drunk-driving conviction. But this is merely incorrect. You may face charges of bicycling while intoxicated under VC 21200.5.
If You Take a Swig of Mouthwash, Chew Gum, or Place a Penny In Your Mouth While Being Stopped for DUI, You Will Not Fail the Breathalyzer Examination
None of these tricks can work. This is because a police officer administering a breath test will need you to blow deeply into the breathalyzer device, not breathe a shallow breath.
You Must Have Been Driving to Face DUI Charges
If a police officer sees you acting like you are intoxicated or confirms that you are impaired and have recently been driving, you may still face DUI charges. For example, if you parked your vehicle, turned the engine off, exited the automobile, and staggered to your destination, the prosecution could still charge you with DUI.
You could still face DUI charges if you were sitting in the driver's seat of a parked car and the engine was running. Therefore, waiting in a place or at another person's house for the intoxication to wear off is preferable. Do not attempt to sleep off the drunkenness in your vehicle.
Drinking Coffee Will Make You Sober
Drinking coffee or using any other type of stimulant will not lower your BAC level. The only thing that can lower your BAC level is not consuming alcohol at all. And if you must drink, wait several hours before driving so your body can process the alcohol.
Breathalyzer Tests are a Consistent and Reliable Indicator of BAC; Meaning BAC is a Reliable and Constant Measure of Intoxication
Breath tests vary significantly as a marker of BAC from one person to another and from one case to another. Actual impairment is indicated by low to average BAC levels, varies significantly between suspects, and is influenced by various factors.
An Average Person Can Have up to Five Drinks in One Hour Without Exceeding the Stipulated BAC for a DUI Charge
Your BAC will continue to rise for 90 minutes to three hours after your last drink, whether or not your impairment level is decreasing. Most women who have had more than two alcoholic drinks in 60 minutes and most men who have had more than three drinks in 60 minutes will register a BAC level higher than the stipulated level for DUI charges long after they have stopped drinking. And when a person ingests food while drinking alcohol, the blood alcohol concentration level will remain higher for utmost six hours after their last drink.
If You Cooperate, You May Succeed In Convincing the Police Not to Arrest You
Being respectful to the police officer and passing field sobriety tests does not warrant that you will be let go. The law still binds police officers, and irrespective of how nice you are to them, they will fulfill their duties when required. This is not to say that being respectful to a police officer who is arresting you will not help your case.
Responding respectfully and not resisting arrest forcibly shows good character, which might be used to lower your sentence in the event of a conviction. Doing the opposite may harm your DUI case, and you may be subject to more penalties under California DUI statutes.
DUI Charges Cannot Be Beaten
Many factors can impact the outcome of a DUI case. Drunk-driving convictions are contingent on evidence like:
- The perception of intoxication by the law enforcement officer who presents a sworn statement.
- BAC tests, which are at times improperly administered.
- BAC tests that may have been conducted using defective equipment.
- The assumption that the same individual in the driver's seat was the one driving.
- The assumption the blood alcohol concentration level was the same when the individual was driving as it was when the police officer administered the test.
Although it is possible to win DUI charges, it is still not ideal to risk your future and freedom by driving while drunk.
You Are Automatically Criminally Liable If The Police Have Arrested You for Driving While Intoxicated
If you took a breathalyzer test or failed field sobriety tests and were then placed under arrest for driving under the influence, you would not be automatically guilty. Your case would have to undergo the court process, and you would have to take a plea bargain, or the judge would have to issue a conviction.
There are several things to look at when determining a defendant's guilt. Based on the facts surrounding the case, an experienced DUI lawyer can prove that the DUI stop by the police was unlawful or that the arresting officer lacked the legal authority to pull you over. Also, the lawyer may be able to demonstrate that the breathalyzer machine was not calibrated correctly or that the test was not completed promptly. These are among the matters a DUI lawyer will address.
Regarding FST findings, the police officer's judgment is restricted, and they may have misinterpreted the situation. An experienced DUI lawyer will find video footage of all these examinations.
California Authorities Have No Way of Determining Whether You Are Intoxicated with Drugs or Not
California authorities have undergone training to perform many examinations to establish whether a person has been using drugs. Balancing, eye-tracking exams, and walking in a straight line are examples of body coordination assessments.
Should the results of the tests make the police doubtful or highly suspicious, they can bring in a narcotics detection expert. A drug detection specialist has been trained to conduct more comprehensive tests like temperatures, pressure, pupil dilation, pulse rates, and mouth and saliva examinations.
You Cannot Face DUID Charges If You Have Not Used Drugs on the Day You Were Driving
Sadly, that is not true. Unlike alcohol, drugs linger in the blood for a longer time. Consequently, whether or not you consumed, ingested, or otherwise used any drugs on that day, the controlled substance you used could still be detected in your bloodstream, triggering DUI charges.
Conversely, a DUI lawyer will utilize the fact that you were not incapacitated or high when you drove to disprove the reasonable grounds for your drugged driving arrest.
DUIs Are Minor Charges and Have Minimal Effect on a Person’s Life
Although a first drunk-driving instance is deemed a misdemeanor offense, it could significantly impact your life. You could be subject to a jail term of six months, heavy fines that may add up to $1,800 plus court fines, and probation. Additionally, your driving privilege may be revoked or suspended, and restoring it is a headache because of the prolonged waiting period required.
A first-time DUI conviction also goes into your criminal record and will remain there until you request an expungement. Also, if you have a DUI, people will view you as a reckless driver, which can significantly affect your personal and work relationships, especially if you are a commercial driver.
You Cannot be Arrested for DUI If You Are Driving Perfectly
While it is true that a police officer requires probable cause to stop you, you may still be pulled over at a DUI checkpoint. These roadblocks, legal under federal and state law, allow law enforcement to check motorists to see whether they are driving while intoxicated. Therefore, even if you think you are a sober motorist, you may still be caught.
Eating After Drinking Will Lower Your BAC Level
Eating is the usual bet people have on lowering their blood alcohol content. But this is not a reliable course of action to avoid a DUI charge. Eating could help you fight the narcotic effects of an alcoholic drink, but it does nothing to lower your BAC level. Additionally, research has revealed that your blood alcohol content is often at its highest one hour after your last sip of alcohol; therefore, waiting for the BAC to lower is not good either.
The ideal way to avoid DUI charges is to avoid drinking when you know you will be driving or having a designated driver who will take you home when drunk. Even if you have only had one or two glasses of alcohol, you can still fail the breathalyzer test.
Taking a Nap Before You Drive Lowers BAC Levels
One quick thing people think helps with impairment is napping. The truth is that while taking a nap may make you more alert, like coffee, it does not remove or lower the alcohol concentration in your bloodstream.
Contact Reliable Riverside Bail Bond Services Near Me
It helps to know what is true and what is false among the several stories and discussions surrounding DUIs in California so that you are well prepared should you ever be arrested for the same. As we have seen, there are so many myths surrounding these cases.
However, one thing about this that is not a myth is that if you have been charged with DUI in Temecula, CA, the judge will likely set bail so you can be released pending the resolution of your case. And if you need help posting bail, we at Justice Bail Bonds can help you. Our bail agents are available 24/7 to help DUI defendants obtain a faster, more affordable jail release. Contact us at 714-541-1155 to begin the process of securing your freedom.
