If you’re facing drunk driving charges, then you’re probably being offered a plea deal so that the prosecutor can obtain a quick conviction and move on to the next case. But your future is more than just a case. It’s about your freedom, your finances, and your reputation. So before accepting any sort of plea bargain, you want to fully consider your criminal defense options. Let’s look at just a few of the many defenses that might be available to you.
Challenging field sobriety tests
Field sobriety tests are powerful tools used by law enforcement to justify a breath or blood test and otherwise gather evidence of intoxication. But these tests are far from foolproof. In fact, egregious errors can be made during the administration of these tests that can leave you susceptible to criminal charges. Officers might give poor instructions to you as far as your participation in the test, they may misread verbal cues and signs of intoxication, and they might neglect to take personal characteristics like a medical condition into consideration. So you shouldn’t be automatically convicted of drunk driving just because you failed a field sobriety test.
Bad Breathalyzer tests
Breathalyzer tests typically form the foundation of drunk driving evidence, but even this evidence can be erroneous. The machines that are used to conduct these tests need to be properly maintained and calibrated in order to provide accurate results, so there’s certainly a lot of room for error there. Additionally, Breathalyzer tests need to be conducted in accordance with applicable standards. Failing to do so could lead to false positive or readings that are much higher than they should be.
What this means for you
The point is that regardless of how damaging the evidence against you may seem you might have some powerful criminal defense options at your disposal. You simply have to know about them, how they apply to your case, and aggressively utilize them to your advantage. If you’d like to learn more about how to do that, then it might be time to sit down with an experienced criminal defense attorney with a track record of successfully defending against drunk driving charges.