The Savela Law Firm, P.C.
- 303-865-4545
Criminal Defense and Personal Injury
My Cocktail Party Advisement on DUI
I think most people assume that all attorneys know
how to defend DUIs. They don’t. Many criminal attorneys do not know
what to do in DUI cases. The only people who can truly help you are those
lawyers who spend the majority of their time fighting for the rights of those
accused of DUI. Just keeping current with the science is a full time job.
In addition to knowing criminal law and procedure and the ever-changing,
multiple-paragraph, multiple-subpart DUI law, we must know the rules and
regulations of the Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”), the many cases
interpreting those rules (some of which are unpublished, but extraordinarily
powerful in DMV hearings), the science of alcohol absorption and metabolism,
including how and why blood and breath testing can be completely inaccurate.
Although I do not condone drinking and driving, I
recognize that the laws on this subject are very severe, the machines used to
test blood alcohol content (“BAC”) are unreliable, and this is more of a
political issue than a public safety issue. This is my advice to you.
How to Avoid DUIs – Don’t Get Pulled Over
Police officers are always looking for someone to
pull over for DUI. In this era of heightened security and government
sponsored fear, the police are encouraged to stop you for any traffic
infraction, no matter how slight. Once the police have a reason to stop
you, they can and will look for evidence of other crimes, especially DUI.
So, they pull you over for silly things that do not affect public safety.
Often the evidence they find is for the crime of DUI. Some ideas on ways
not to get pulled over:
1. Try not to look poor or like a minority.
2. Keep your car in good working order.
3. Periodically, check that all the lights work.
4. Make sure that you turn on your headlights at
night.
5. Keep your license and registration up to date
and visible.
6. Drive at a reasonable speed, but not too slow.
7. Pay attention to lane usage and turn signals.
8. Come to a complete stop at stop signs and
intersections.
9. If you have a flashy car, know that everyone,
including police are looking at you. Make sure the flash is legal.
10. Do not throw cigarettes out of the car window.
11. Make your drunk friends puke before they get
in the car.
12. Walk or call a cab.
Although the above suggestions are great, what I
really want to discuss is what you should do after the lights and sirens come
on. The officer is looking for any sign of DUI. Most anything can
be a sign of DUI.
Grab your Favorite Potable and Learn
Whenever I am at a place where alcohol is served
and people find out that I am a criminal attorney, I get asked about DUI's.
I tell stories and give my advice while my beer gets warm or my cocktail loses
its flavor to water. But, after I say my piece, I get the questions about
popular knowledge and DUI myths. Everyone has heard DUI advice from
someone. The problem is that the advice is rarely correct, at least for
the DUI law in Colorado.
“I heard that you are supposed to suck on a penny.”
“My friend told me to never take the breath test.” “The cop told me to
request his presence at the DMV hearing because he would not show up and I
would get to keep my license.” "Chew peanuts."
After explaining why each myth is wrong, everyone
is confused on what to do when suspected of DUI.
Considering this is a cocktail party and not a
three day conference in Key West, I suggest the KISS (keep it simple, stupid)
approach. No matter how good the DUI information, it is useless unless it
is remembered and not confused. There are a lot of specific defenses for
specific DUI situations. If I could stand next to you as you interact
with the police, these specific DUI defenses could be preserved, but unless you
take me drinking, I cannot. I think most people would rather a short
answer that covers most situations than a dissertation on all the ways a case
can be won. (Although some states do, Colorado does not allow the accused
DUI suspect to contact a lawyer for advice during a DUI stop.)
DUI’s have two parts, DMV and Criminal. DMV
involves the possible suspension of your driving privileges and entitles you to
a hearing. The Criminal part entitles you to a trial by jury and can
result in jail, probation, alcohol classes, fines, and points leading to a
further license suspension. The evidence is the same, but these are
different forums and different standards of proof. Fortunately, there is
only one set of simple rules to deal with both. Rather than organizing
this around the parts to a DUI case, I suggest thinking of the situation
chronologically (complying with KISS).
The lights go on and you hear sirens. Your heart
sinks and you prepare to pull over, worried about DUI. You will soon come
in contact with a police officer who is looking for evidence of any crime s/he
can find, especially DUI. You must provide some information to the
officer, but you do not have answer every question or submit to every request.
In fact, you only have to provide your driver’s license, vehicle registration
and proof of insurance.
Do and Say As Little As Possible
If you are pulled over while driving a car,
everything the police officer observes could be evidence of intoxication or
DUI. The police officer is looking for you to react too slowly (or
quickly) to his lights/sirens, poor driving, hand movements in the car, slurred
speech, mumbling, incoherence, inability to do two tasks at once, and 50 other
things that you cannot remember. Many are simply signs of nervousness,
but in court, they sound like a DUI. It is safe to assume that everything
the police officer asks of you, is designed to provide her/him with evidence of
intoxication or DUI.
Most of us have heard of the Fifth Amendment and
your right not to incriminate yourself. This right is not absolute in DUI
cases, but it is still available. The problem is that the courts do not
think you are in custody when you are pulled over for a traffic violation.
So, in order to protect your right not to incriminate yourself, you must do and
say as little as possible. Unless the officer clearly orders you to do
something, you do not have to do it. I am not suggesting being impolite
or belligerent. Cooperate with commands, but not requests. If you
do not know if something is a command, ask “Do I have to?” or wait for a second
command. In a DUI stop, the only things you have to do start after handcuffs
are placed on you.
Most, if not all, requests by police officers
during a DUI stop are simply requests. Your response is voluntary.
The police will not tell you this. They may even suggest otherwise.
The evidence you volunteer is admissible against you. So, do not
volunteer anything. The less you volunteer, the less evidence the police
have to prove you are intoxicated or DUI.
Usually the first question a person gets is, “Have
you had anything to drink tonight?” You do not have to answer this
question. In fact, this question assumes that you have answered the
unasked question “Are you willing to talk with me?” Most people
voluntarily roll down their window when the officer is approaching. You
should only roll down your window a half inch and wait for further commands.
This allows you to slide your driver’s license, registration and proof of
insurance out the window. It allows some conversation. But, it does
not provide the officer with easy access into your car (think smell). If
you do say you have been drinking, you will most likely be arrested for DUI.
I suggest that you keep your driver’s license,
registration and proof of insurance in a single, easily accessible place.
Get it ready for the officer before s/he gets to your door. Other than
providing this information, do and say nothing more. The officer will
take your papers to her/his car and check it through the police computer or
radio dispatch.
After the officer checks your name in the computer
for warrants, s/he will come back to your car and say s/he smells an odor of
alcohol and that you have blood shot watery eyes. This is a clear sign
you are soon to be arrested for DUI. S/he will then attempt to get you to
complete voluntary roadside maneuvers (VRM) sometimes called standardized field
sobriety tests (SFST). These start with a request to step out of the car.
Each movement of your body can constitute evidence of intoxication. I
suggest that you tell the officer that you do not want to get out of the car.
I suggest that you say you do not want to do any roadside maneuvers. The
officer will likely order you out of the car. Make the officer order you
out of the car. It will help us later. Once out of the car, the
officer will request that you submit to voluntary roadside maneuvers.
These tests are difficult to pass under the best conditions. They are
designed for you to fail and provide the officer with probable cause to arrest
for DUI.
No Roadsides
The biggest misconception in DUI law is
that you are required to do the roadsides maneuvers/VRM/SFST. You do not.
These tests are voluntary. If you refuse to do them, there are no
consequences. Your refusal cannot be used against you in court.
Better yet, there will be no evidence of these worthless tests to support DUI
charges.
The second biggest misconception is that a sober
person can pass the roadsides. The validation studies conducted by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate that more than 30% of
people failing the VRMs are not intoxicated. Independent validation of these
tests shows that very few people can pass them, even sober. This leads to
false arrests for DUI. These tests are designed for you to fail.
In Colorado, officers do not use video recording
devices in their cars. The only evidence of the DUI stop is the officer’s
report (and your word). Even if you do pass them, the police officer can
write his report inaccurately to support a DUI arrest. A study has shown
that more than 50% of DUI officers do not conduct the VRMs according to the
rules and score them incorrectly. Some DUI officers are willing to lie to
get a conviction. If it is a swearing contest between you and a DUI
police officer, you will most often lose.
The reason the police officer wants you to do
roadsides is to develop evidence against you to prove that you are DUI.
This evidence is used in two ways. First, the officer can uses it as
probable cause to arrest you and require that you take a chemical test of your
breath, blood, urine or saliva. If the officer has probable cause, then
you must cooperate with the chemical test or you will lose your driver’s
license for a year. If the officer does not have probable cause of DUI,
then this chemical test is not admissible against you at the DMV hearing or in
the criminal case. The second reason the officer wants you to do
roadsides is to develop evidence to use against you at a DUI trial.
Refusing to voluntarily complete the roadsides is the best way to limit the
evidence against you.
No Portable Breath Test (“PBT”)
The police officer will ask you to do a voluntary
PBT. This is voluntary. Do not take the PBT. The machine used
for this test is small and handheld, about the size of a video camera. It
is fairly accurate for testing whether there is any alcohol in your breath, but
not accurate enough to determine how much is in your blood. Yet, the test
will provide the officer with a reading of your BAC that s/he can use for
probable cause to arrest for DUI. Retired officers say that they were
trained only to use the PBT when the VRM or SFST were weak. The idea is
that if the PBT comes out high enough, you can still arrest for DUI.
The PBT result is not admissible in court to prove
guilt. If you refuse to do the PBT, that refusal is not admissible
either.
To review, this test is inaccurate, it can only be
used to provide probable cause for a DUI arrest and refusing is not evidence.
It will rarely help you. It most often will cause you to be arrested for
DUI. If the officer does not have probable cause to arrest you for DUI
after looking at your driver’s license and you do not voluntarily give her/him
evidence, then s/he must release you. If s/he does not, then your lawyer
has a good case for suppression.
At this point, the officer will have your papers
and a few observations of your driving, eyes, and breath. If you have
done your job, then you may not get arrested for DUI, but that is never a
guarantee. By limiting the evidence against you, you have made it
difficult for the officer to arrest you for DUI, but not impossible. If
you are arrested, the less evidence the police collect against you, the better
your case.
If Arrested, Choose Breath
No matter what you do, you might get
arrested for DUI. Innocent people get arrested, and convicted of DUI.
Once arrested, you must take a chemical test to determine your blood alcohol
content (BAC) or else you will lose your driver’s license for one year.
The only times that you should consider not taking a test once arrested is if
you are very intoxicated or have a prior DUI. If you get a DUI, then make
sure you ask your lawyer how to deal with your next arrest.
An arrest in a DUI case is communicated to the
accused when the police officer says, “I believe there is probable cause for
DUI; you may choose between a chemical test of your breath or blood.”
This may be accompanied by placing you in handcuffs or placing you in the back
of the police car. If you are confused as to whether you have been
arrested, ask.
The test you choose once you are arrested is very
important. There are tons of considerations that could be specific to you
or your situation during the particular stop. There are many myths about
how to handle this portion of the stop. In addition, there is confusion
between these tests and the PBT. Simply, if arrested, choose breath.
Why? I suggest the breath test because it is
the least accurate of your choices. I have heard some lawyers suggest
that if you know that you are not intoxicated, then choose blood because it
will accurately show your lack of intoxication. This is good advice if
you know that you are not intoxicated as defined by Colorado law, but the only
people that know are those that have had nothing to drink.
Some confusion stems from the fact that most
officers have a PBT in their cars. People get this confused with the
chemical test of your breath. The chemical test of your breath is
conducted on the Intoxilyzer 5000 EN. This is a machine that is similar
in size to a VCR. The majority of these machines are housed at police stations,
including jails. They are sensitive to interference, including radio
frequency and air pollutants. It is possible to place one of these
machines in a van. It is highly unlikely that a police officer has one in
her/his car. Generally you have to be taken somewhere to conduct this
test for DUI.
The Intoxilyzer has flaws. The machine has a
very difficult time accurately measuring alcohol in people who suffer from
gastroesophagal reflux disease (GERD). Given the prevalence of heart burn
remedy advertisements on television, I suspect that many people may have this
medical condition. Further, the machine may mistake other volatile
chemicals for alcohol. People that work with chemicals, paint, or
gasoline may absorb them into the skin and release them through the lungs.
The machine thinks it is alcohol. This machine does not measure the
temperature of your breath. If your breath temperature is high, then your
result will be high. Studies show a person’s temperature varies by
several degrees throughout the day. There are many other flaws with the
Intoxilyzer. The flaws make it easier than the blood test to attack at
the DMV hearing and at trial. Breathing patterns can increase your result
(hyperventilation prior to blowing can lower your breath temperature by several
degrees, lowering your result).
Refusal is evidence against the accused at a DUI
trial. It results in a year suspension of your driver’s license at the
DMV hearing. It may result in an additional year of suspension if your are
convicted of DUI. The DUI officer’s word will be the evidence of refusal.
Refusal may occur when the accused fails to choose a DUI test. It may
occur when the accused does not cooperate with a DUI test (i.e. not blowing
hard enough or long enough, not being able to urinate, not allowing a blood
draw). Refusal may occur when a person attempts to change her/his choice
of test. Refusal happens often when a person confuses the PBT with the
Intoxilyzer and then gets mad that s/he has to take “two” DUI breath tests.
The most important information about refusal is that it can be withdrawn.
To withdraw a refusal, the accused must communicate it to the chemical test
officer within a reasonable amount of time to allow completion of a chemical
test within 2 hours of driving.
From time to time, the DUI officer will not give
you a choice of tests. Request a breath test specifically. The
officer does not have to give you the choices. But, if you request a
breath test, the officer must allow you to take it unless there is no machine
available.
If the DUI officer suspects drug use, s/he may
request a urine test. Go ahead and take this test. The urine test
cannot determine if you are intoxicated or “high” at any specific time.
It just determines whether you have recently used a drug. If given the
choice between a blood or urine test, choose urine.
After you provide breath, blood, urine or saliva,
the DUI officer will likely serve a summons on you. Your prior record
will determine whether you must post a bond to get out of jail. If this
is an average DUI without priors, then you may be served the summons and
released. Sometimes, if the police suspect a high BAC, they may place you
in a detoxification center for the evening.
No Cop at DMV Hearing
If the State wants to suspend your driving
privileges, then they must give you notice and the right to a hearing.
This is often the most important portion of the case to the accused, because it
determines if driving privileges will be suspended. Although this decision
does not have to be made before consulting an attorney, it often is. So,
I include it here.
Depending on what choice you make as you are
arrested for DUI, your notice of revocation will be delivered immediately by
the officer or after a few weeks in the mail. If you choose a breath test
or refuse to take a test, this notice will be served on you immediately by the
police officer. If you choose a blood or urine test, then the DMV will
mail the notice.
Beware: The DMV is only required to mail to
the address that you last gave to them. It is not a defense that you did
not get notice because you moved and never corrected your address. This
might allow you to have more time to request a hearing, but that is all.
Meanwhile, your license will be suspended and driving could result in more
charges, a mandatory 30 day jail sentence, a bond in the amount of $10,000.00
and an additional 12 month suspension of your license. If you are not
certain that your address is current, then file an address change in person at
your local DMV office.
You must request a hearing on the matter to
challenge the evidence. These hearings can be won, so request a hearing.
The request must be made in person at a DMV office. You have to request
the hearing within 7 days of receiving the notice of suspension. If you
do not request a hearing, your license to drive is suspended starting on the
day provided in the notice. If you do request a hearing, your license
will not be suspended until and unless you lose the hearing. Hearings are
often set about 45 days from the date of the request. Failure to appear
at the hearing results in the exact same suspension as if you never requested a
hearing. Failure to appear will not result in a warrant, so you have
nothing to lose by requesting the hearing and then changing your mind.
You should not request the presence of the
officer. It is the very rare case where a DMV-HO (hearing officer) will
look a DUI officer in the face and find for the accused. More
importantly, without the officer, the DMV-HO can only use the DUI affidavit
filed with the notice of revocation as evidence against you. Sometimes,
the affidavit is missing a required portion of the DUI proof. This
information can often be provided by the DUI officer, but only if s/he is
present. Finally, if your attorney wants the officer present, s/he can
subpoena the DUI officer a few days before the hearing.
Beware: Some DUI officers will suggest that
if you request their presence, that they will not show up and that you will
win. In my experience, this is a lie. They will show up and you
will lose. I suspect that these officers do this so that your hearing is
set at the same time and place as several other hearings that s/he has to
attend, thereby making it easier for her/him to be at all the hearings.
The above is more information than you want to try
to remember at a cocktail party, let alone try to teach someone. So take
a sip of your social lubricant, stare your cocktail buddy right in the eye and
say that s/he needs to remember just 5 things:
1. Do & Say as Little as Possible
2. No Roadsides
3. No PBT
4. If Arrested, Choose Breath
5. No Cop at DMV Hearing