If you’ve been charged with a DUI, you might think that the evidence held by the prosecution is too much to overcome. After all, they might have observations of you acting intoxicated, breath test results, field sobriety test results, and maybe even incriminating statements that you made.
While that certainly puts you in a tough spot, there could still be some criminal defense strategies that you can use to try to protect yourself, your freedom, and your future.
Analyzing the legality of your traffic stop
The evidence that has been collected with the intent to use against you is only valuable to the prosecution if it was legally obtained. In many drunk driving cases, though, the police make mistakes that violate your Constitutional rights.
This is frequently seen when police officers conduct a traffic stop without the reasonable suspicion necessary to warrant such a stop. If the police stop you just because they have a hunch, then you’ve been illegally stopped.
So, when looking at your traffic stop, analyze the facts to see if the police can legitimately claim that they pulled you over because they thought you were committing a crime or because they felt it was an emergency.
What if your traffic stop was illegal?
If it turns out that your traffic stop was illegally conducted, then you might be able to suppress any incriminating evidence that was gathered after you were stopped. This means that breath test results, observations of your intoxication, and your statements, regardless of how indicative of criminal wrongdoing they may be, could be blocked from being used against you.
As you can see, this is a powerful DUI defense option if you’re able to utilize it. Therefore, as you’re preparing your defense, carefully analyze the facts of your case to see if this is a viable defense path for you.