Seeing the flashing lights of a Scottsdale police officer in your rearview mirror can be a frightening experience, but it’s nothing compared to the thoughts that will run through your mind if you are charged with driving drunk. For many people, it’s the first time they’ve ever had a run in with the cops, and confusion and panic are common.
You might wonder things like: Will I have to go to jail? Is there going to be a court case? Will I lose my driver’s license? Are they going to take my car? What will my family think? How will I get to work? What’s going to happen to me?All of these questions are perfectly natural, and they are a great example of why it’s so important to find an experienced Scottsdale DUI attorney to work with you on your defense.
Far too many people either think that a DUI is just a small thing and not worth getting a lawyer for, or they believe that there’s no real way for them to fight against the charges. Both of these lines of thought are false, and it’s vital that people understand this.
Scottsdale DUIs Are Serious Business
Getting a Scottsdale DUI carries stiff penalties. For people facing their second, third, or higher offense, serious jail time and fine are a likely outcome, but even first timers who test at .08 or higher on the breath test don’t have it easy. Penalties will most likely include:
- $250 in fines (not including a surcharge)
- $250 paid to the Arizona DUI abatement fund
- Probation time of 1-5 years
- Drug and alcohol evaluation (which could lead to treatment and counseling)
- 10 days to 6 months in jail (most judges drop this to a single day if you submit to counseling)
- 90-day driver’s license suspension (or longer)
First time extreme DUIs (test results higher than .15) have added jail time and are also required to put an Ignition Interlock Device on their cars. But even beyond these penalties, DUI convictions bring with them a stigma. From now on, you’ll be the person who drove drunk and endangered yourself and everyone else on the road – maybe you even put your neighbors or your family in danger.
And it’s not just the people closest to you who will know about it; a DUI is a charge that goes on your permanent criminal record, and as such it is something that can be seen by anyone who ever does a background check on you – lenders, landlords, prospective employers, and more. It’s something you’ll have to live with your whole life.
Scottsdale lawyers who know the ins and outs of DUI law can help, but only if you let them. How?
Scottsdale DUI Attorneys Leave No Stone Unturned
Police officers are sworn to keep the peace and uphold the law – an incredibly difficult job that often puts them in stressful situations. But they are still human beings, and all of us make mistakes. Sometimes cops sidestep parts of the law in order to make an arrest, and sometimes they just flat out forget in the heat of the moment. Either way, it’s not right if they took shortcuts when they arrested you and violated your rights.
The first thing a good Scottsdale DUI defense lawyer will do is ask to see all of the records of the arrest and compare them with your story. Then they’ll head out to the area where you were arrested to make sure that the arrest report holds up. Cases have been overturned because officers overstepped their bounds or made mistakes, and no one wants an innocent person to face conviction.
Scottsdale DUI Attorneys Know Breathalyzers Mess Up
But what if you failed a breathalyzer test? Doesn’t that pretty much guarantee that you will be convicted? After all, it’s pretty hard to argue with the results on a machine.
Actually, it’s not hard at all if you know how to do it, and smart DUI attorneys in Scottsdale are well-versed in the failings of breathalyzers. Far from being perfect, breath tests have a history of providing inaccurate results for any number of reasons. Just a few possibilities include the device being calibrated incorrectly, the device being stored improperly, the physiology of your body throwing the machine off, and foreign substances such as mouthwash (which can show up as alcohol) giving false high readings.
If your Scottsdale DUI lawyer can show evidence that any of these things occurred, it’s possible that the judge may agree to throw out the results.
