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DUI Statistics

According to a national study, over 150,000 Idahoans (1 out of every 10) reported they drove impaired the previous year.To put that number in perspective, that is nearly the entire population of the cities of Meridian (81,557) and Nampa (75,092) combined!


Following a DUI arrest, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO IS CONTACT AN AGGRESSIVE DUI ATTORNEY TODAY

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      How to Attack a DUI Charge

    When you are charged with a DUI, you need to attack the charge. Fortunately, there are ways to attack a DUI and win.

    Attack the Stop

    Nearly every DUI begins with a traffic stop or traffic accident. Many times an officer will pull you over to give you a ticket for a traffic violation. Sometimes, however, an officer will get too anxious and simply won't wait for a traffic violation to occur and will stop you anyway. This is the first place to start fighting a DUI. If an officer stops you without a valid reason, anything found during that stop, including evidence of DUI (breath tests, admissions, smelling like alcohol, etc.), is inadmissible in court.  Successfully challenging the traffic stop almost always results in a dismissal.

    Attack the Officer's Decisions

    Even if your traffic stop was valid, the next place to attack is the officer's decision to expand the scope of the traffic stop.  In other words, the officer didn’t stop you because he saw your bloodshot eyes, smelled the scent of alcohol and/or heard your slurred speech as you were whirring by in traffic.  The officer stopped you for some other reason(s).  So, if he stopped you for speeding, he needs some additional evidence other than the fact that you were speeding to justify investigating you for a DUI.

    The best place to start this type of attack is to get your hands on the police report and any audio/video recording of the stop. A good defense attorney will go step by step through the investigation and determine if the officer had enough evidence to expand the stop. If the officer skips a step at any point, this may serve as a basis for a motion to suppress.

    Attack the Test

    Another area to attack a DUI is to attack the test results. This type of attack focuses on the results of the field sobriety tests, the breath test and the science behind both. This type of defense may or may not require calling an expert witness.

    Most breath testing machines work by refracting light through moisture molecules in your breath to determine the alcohol level in your blood. Sound complicated and potentially unreliable? Well, it is. This type of attack calls into question the entire scientific basis behind a DUI and the breath test process.

    Going on the attack to beat your DUI is the best way to clear your name and keep your record clean.  One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to lose hope that your case can be won.  Don't sit back and wait for things to get better.  In DUI cases, an aggressive attack is the best way to beat the charge.

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    The information you read here is a general overview of areas of attack, not a specific review of your case.  There are also several other case-specific defenses that require a detailed examination of the facts of each case.  Contact me at (208) 991-4DUI if you’d like to discuss how to aggressively defend your DUI case.  The consultation is free.