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Get Started NowDenver DUI Attorney: Challenge Your Breathalyzer Results
Being charged with a DUI in Denver is no small matter. If you plead guilty, or if you're found guilty, the consequences can affect your life in a huge way. You could lose your license, impacting your ability to earn a living or go to school. What's more, the charge can follow you around for years, driving up your car insurance rates and affecting your employment. A DUI attorney in Denver can help you by challenging your breathalyzer results. Take a look at how that can be done.
Was The Officer Properly Trained?
Police officers need to be trained to use the breathalyzer correctly. If they aren't trained, then their readings could be less than reliable. Police departments are supposed to keep records of officer training.
Your Denver DUI attorney can request proof of the officers training records from the department. If it comes to light that their training is out of date, or if no training records exist for that officer, then your lawyer can argue that your breathalyzer results are invalid.
Was The Machine Calibrated?
Just as a scale that is not calibrated regularly may register an inaccurate weight, a calibrated breathalyzer may give an inaccurate reading. And just like officer training records, police departments have to keep records of calibration, so that they can prove the machines work properly.
It's more common than you might think for breathalyzers to be improperly calibrated. In 2012 in San Francisco, hundreds of DUI convictions were called into question because the officers in the area were not calibrating their breathalyzers according to department policy. Your DUI law firm in Denver should definitely request the calibration records for the machine that was used in your case, as these could be the key to exonerating you.
Was The Search Legal?
One more strategy that your DUI lawyer might try is arguing that the breathalyzer results were obtained as the result of an illegal search. In order for an officer to legally administer a breathalyzer, the officer has to have probable cause to suspect that you were drinking, or at least a reasonable suspicion to pull you over.
If you were weaving in and out of traffic or breaking traffic laws, that constitutes reasonable suspicion. If you were showing noticeable signs of intoxication at the traffic stop, like slurring your words, that's probable cause. But if you were driving legally and safely and showing no overt signs of intoxication, and you can prove it (for example, if a witness can testify to that) then your breathalyzer results may be thrown out as an illegal search.
A DUI attorney in Colorado, will know all of the possible defenses to a DUI charge and how to help you in court. Don't try to handle a DUI charge alone; hire a local lawyer to help.
Was The Officer Properly Trained?
Police officers need to be trained to use the breathalyzer correctly. If they aren't trained, then their readings could be less than reliable. Police departments are supposed to keep records of officer training.
Your Denver DUI attorney can request proof of the officers training records from the department. If it comes to light that their training is out of date, or if no training records exist for that officer, then your lawyer can argue that your breathalyzer results are invalid.
Was The Machine Calibrated?
Just as a scale that is not calibrated regularly may register an inaccurate weight, a calibrated breathalyzer may give an inaccurate reading. And just like officer training records, police departments have to keep records of calibration, so that they can prove the machines work properly.
It's more common than you might think for breathalyzers to be improperly calibrated. In 2012 in San Francisco, hundreds of DUI convictions were called into question because the officers in the area were not calibrating their breathalyzers according to department policy. Your DUI law firm in Denver should definitely request the calibration records for the machine that was used in your case, as these could be the key to exonerating you.
Was The Search Legal?
One more strategy that your DUI lawyer might try is arguing that the breathalyzer results were obtained as the result of an illegal search. In order for an officer to legally administer a breathalyzer, the officer has to have probable cause to suspect that you were drinking, or at least a reasonable suspicion to pull you over.
If you were weaving in and out of traffic or breaking traffic laws, that constitutes reasonable suspicion. If you were showing noticeable signs of intoxication at the traffic stop, like slurring your words, that's probable cause. But if you were driving legally and safely and showing no overt signs of intoxication, and you can prove it (for example, if a witness can testify to that) then your breathalyzer results may be thrown out as an illegal search.
A DUI attorney in Colorado, will know all of the possible defenses to a DUI charge and how to help you in court. Don't try to handle a DUI charge alone; hire a local lawyer to help.
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