Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants such as alcohol is strictly prohibited by law in all 50 states. Some states refer to this type of violation as DWI or Driving While Intoxicated while others call it DUI or Driving Under the Influence. Drivers who are arrested for suspicion of DUI often get professional help by getting the services of a DWI attorney. A DWI attorney is someone who specializes in these types of cases and are well-experienced in representing individuals who are accused with such during legal proceedings.
A DWI attorney is a person who is licensed to practice law in the state where the alleged offense happened. This type of attorney may also have specializations in personal injury or domestic violence cases. He has mastered the language as well as the application of the state’s DUI laws and is confident that he will able to defend a client against the charges filed against him.
A police officer who is on patrol can observe the erratic behavior of a driver on the road and may assume that he or she is too intoxicated to be able to drive safely. When the driver is pulled over, the officer may perform different field tests that are intended to measure a drivers’ coherence, reaction time, and coordination. If the officer thinks that the driver is too intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, then he or she is asked to blow into a portable breathalyzer, which is a device designed to measure the percentage of alcohol that is present in a person’s bloodstream. If the results are above a set percentage, usually between 0.08 and 0.10 percent, the driver can be charge with DUI and is brought to the police station for a blood test. The driver can be placed in a holding cell for a few hours to several days until he or she makes a first appearance before a judge. After this happens, he or she can then seek help from a DUI lawyer. The lawyer should help his client arrange for release pending the trial date.
Determining the legal violation of a person on the road is often a straightforward process but successfully prosecuting him for DUI is a lot more challenging. The lawyer will take a look at all of the paperwork as well as the test results that are associated with the case. He will also interview the arresting officer, any witnesses, laboratory technicians, and the defendant in order to have a good grasp as to how things happened and how the evidences were handled. During a trial, the lawyer can question the legality of the process that was done by the arresting officer. For example, the officer may have failed to inform the defendant of his rights. In addition, the field tests performed may have been done on uneven ground or in conditions that aren’t ideal for such. It’s also possible that the driver was too exhausted when he was pulled over or has been affected by a certain illness such as diabetes or hypoglycemia.
