Reasons A DUI Case May Be Dismissed
If you are facing a DUI charge, it is essential to consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney. An attorney can help you find out whether you have a chance of getting your case dismissed before it ever goes to trial.
It is not common for a judge to dismiss a DUI case, but it does happen on occasion. Often, dropped charges result from legal errors or insufficient evidence.
No Probable Cause For The Stop
If a police officer stops your vehicle without reasonable suspicion of violating the law, it may be unlawful. This is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and it can lead to the dismissal of your DUI case.
Probable cause is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion and it must be established before an arrest can take place. It also must be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specific facts and details of each individual case.
A common example of no probable cause is when an officer stops your car at a DUI checkpoint where you have been randomly selected to be stopped. The stop may be challenged as unlawful and the evidence resulting from it could be suppressed in court.
Medical Conditions
If you have a medical condition that could affect your ability to drive safely, you may want to disclose it to your lawyer. This can help them prepare your defense to get you out of a DUI charge.
For example, if you suffer from diabetes, low blood sugar can cause tremors, slurring, and clumsiness. It can also lead to mental confusion.
Medications can also affect your field sobriety tests. They can skew the results of a breathalyzer test and cause you to show up with a higher BAC than you actually had.
People who have kidney or liver disease should avoid drinking alcohol. These organs are essential to filtering toxic substances from the bloodstream, so they can fail if they become damaged.
DUI Breath Tests Were Unreliable
If you are arrested for a DUI, it is important to know that many of the breath tests that were given in your case may be unreliable. This means that if the test results are inadmissible, the prosecutor’s case will lose much of its clout and your case is more likely to be dismissed.
The New York Times recently conducted an investigation that reveals that the breath testing machines used by law enforcement are often improperly programmed, calibrated, and maintained. This results in inaccurate BAC readings, causing thousands of drivers to be convicted of driving under the influence when they are actually innocent.
In the past year, judges in Massachusetts and New Jersey tossed out over 30,000 cases of drunken driving because of inaccurate Breathalyzer results. In addition, other states have thrown out hundreds of thousands of breath test results due to errors and faulty equipment.
Residual Alcohol
Residual alcohol is a very common issue in DUI cases. This is especially true if someone has recently drunk alcohol, used breath fresheners or mouthwashes that contain alcohol, or has experienced any other type of oral health issue that could leave traces of the substance in their mouth.
As a result, breath tests may register a high BAC (blood alcohol content) even though a driver has not ingested enough to be legally intoxicated. This can lead to a false conviction.
The best way to avoid a DUI charge is to know what the law says about residual alcohol in your bloodstream, and understand what can and cannot be done to fight a drunk driving case.
There are many ways a DUI case may be dismissed, including if the police violated the rules when making the arrest. The evidence can also be thrown out because of drug interactions between medications that a driver was not aware of.
Higher BAC Than When You Were Driving
If you’re arrested for a DUI and your BAC is higher than when you were driving, there are a few reasons your case may be dismissed. One reason is that the officer did not have enough evidence to convict you of being under the influence.
When you drink alcohol, it takes your liver a few hours to fully metabolize all the alcohol. Then, your blood alcohol level rises rapidly until it reaches its peak.
This can happen anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours after you finished drinking. It’s important to understand this because it can lead to you having a high BAC when you’re pulled over but still below the legal limit when you get your DUI chemical test results back.
This is why it’s important to drink slowly and spread out your drinks over a long period of time. It also helps if you have food in your stomach because this slows down how fast the alcohol is absorbed into your system. You might also consider a non-alcoholic beverage every couple of drinks, as this can help keep your BAC down.
Inaccuracy Of Field Sobriety Tests
If you were stopped for DUI and you failed the field sobriety tests, it may be possible to have your case dismissed. Inaccurate test results could be a result of police mishandling samples, using faulty devices or testing materials, and other factors.
There are a few different types of field sobriety tests that are used by police to determine whether or not someone is impaired by alcohol. They include the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), the Walk & Turn, and the One-Leg Stand test.
These tests were standardized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and are supposed to be administered in accordance with their guidelines. However, many police officers fail to adhere to these standards.
These tests are designed to evaluate a driver’s coordination and balance, which can be difficult for someone who has been drinking. In addition, medical conditions or medications can also make it difficult for a person to perform these exercises.
A Low-Carb Diet
A low-carb diet causes the body to go into a state called ketosis. This process burns stored fat for energy. This produces a chemical substance known as ketones, which police breathalyzers can detect.
The ketones produce a foul odor that can give an officer the impression that you were drunk when in fact you were not. They also increase your BAC.
If you are convicted of a DUI, you can face jail time and hefty fines. It is important to hire an experienced New Mexico criminal charges lawyer who knows how to challenge these types of cases.
There are several factors that could cause a DUI case to be dismissed. One of the most common reasons a DUI may be dismissed is if you have a medical condition that makes you appear intoxicated on the breath test.
For instance, people with diabetes often experience a high BAC on the breath test because their blood sugar level drops too low to be detected by police. Similarly, people with certain medical conditions like kidney failure may not be able to pass the breath test because of their low blood glucose levels.
Police Misconduct
While police officers are tasked with keeping us safe, they can also use their authority in ways that violate our rights. If you are a victim of police misconduct, you may be able to bring a civil lawsuit against the offending officer and seek monetary damages.
If you believe that a police officer has committed misconduct, it is important to speak with an attorney about your options. Your lawyer will help you determine how to go about filing a complaint and will be able to file the appropriate legal documents in your case.
Police misconduct can include anything from racial profiling to coerced confessions and planted evidence. Often, these crimes aren’t obvious.
When it comes to DUI cases, police misconduct is one of the most common reasons that a case may be dismissed. This is because the exclusionary rule allows criminal defendants to throw out evidence that was illegally obtained if a court agrees that it violated their constitutional rights.
Contact us or call us today if you need help from an experienced DWI attorney. Visit our blog for more related articles.