Being arrested for drunk driving is a very serious situation. Drunk driving is responsible for one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. Therefore state governments have enacted serious penalties for this behavior. Even if no one was injured, a first drunk-driving conviction can have serious consequences on a person’s future. Therefore they should hire a DUI Attorney in Redding, CA as soon as they are arrested.
Police are skilled interogators. They may try and convince a first-time offender that it’s better for them to admit to being drunk. That’s not the case. As soon as the person flunks a field sobriety test and is arrested, they should call a lawyer. They should not say anything to the police, the other people in the cell, or their family. All of these conversations can be monitored and used as evidence. Once the lawyer arrives, he will review the evidence.
The first thing he will examine is the probable cause that the police had for pulling the car over in the first place. It’s not uncommon for police to pull drivers over for broken lights and then charge them with drunk driving. If the person wasn’t driving erratically and didn’t slur their words or otherwise act drunk, then the police might not have had probable cause to conduct a sobriety test. This can be very important when the person was barely over the legal blood alcohol limit.
The DUI Attorney will attend the arraignment hearing with the defendant and make sure that they enter the right plea. If he suspects that the police did not have probable cause, the lawyer will begin to fight the charges as this point. He will explain the facts of the traffic stop to the judge. It is possible that the judge will agree and throw the charges out at this point. Even if the judge doesn’t throw out the charges, doubtful probable cause and a low blood alcohol level might get a reduced bail amount. However, most states automatically take away the person’s right to drive for a minimum time period. The lawyer will work to get a limited license that allows the person to drive to and from work.
