DUI Defense Lawyers
What is the benefit you provide for those accused of a drunk driving offense?
DUI Defense Lawyer Holbrook: A great deal of clients involve me and state, "I got charged with a DUI", and they automatically assume they are guilty. That may not be the case as police officers need to follow a stringent procedure, and I've had a great deal of training on that protocol. So, things like the field sobriety examination and the eye test are part of those treatments. It's amazing how many police officers who administer those tests badly.
All DUI defense lawyers are criminal defense lawyers, but not all criminal defense attorneys are DUI lawyers. They don't look extensively at the body cam or dashcam video clips for the field sobriety examinations. Then there's a chain of custody problems that come with blood examination results and a multitude of evidence to poke holes in the Intoxilyzer examination. A great deal of criminal defense lawyers are not familiar with that.
What are the penalties for a drunk driving first?
DUI Lawyer Holbrook: It's a maximum charge of 6 months in jail. In Utah, it's a class B misdemeanor, and the fines are up to $1,500, with an obligatory 2 days behind bars. Rather than the two days behind bars, most courts let you do forty-eight hours of community service. With a DUI conviction in Utah, you need to obtain an interlock device and pay for it. That's one of the concealed expenses that build up in a DUI.
When you get cited for drunk driving, you have 10 days to appeal the driver's license suspension. And then you have ten days to alert the Utah Driver's License Division that you intend to establish your right to have a hearing. But the cops tell you that you have 5-14 days to notify the local court where the charges are pending. A great deal of individuals mix up that 10-day DLD hearing with the 5-14-day criminal charges. So, sometimes I get a DUI case when the 10 days have passed. What's even more, I believe the DLD hearing is essential, despite the fact that many criminal defense attorneys claim it has no value.
I like to develop a record, so the DLD hearing has value. They record the hearings, so if a cop states one point in a Driver's License Division hearing and flip flops his account later on, I can better build a case. Some officers don't call into those DLD hearings, so the Utah Driver License Division will not act
In Utah, can you decline the roadside breath test?
Utah has an implied consent law. When you get a driver's license, you consented to give blood, breath, or urine samples if requested by the authorities. You can refuse, yet the penalty is normally an 18-month suspension on your vehicle driver's license. If you had submitted and were over the legal limit, your vehicle driver's license would certainly be cancelled for 120 days.
Besides the breath test, are there things the cops are observing?
DUI Lawyer Holbrook: There are 24 clues they search for like unexpected motions, hard braking, and acceleration, or slow to pull over. Another clue is not if you struck an item, but if you almost struck an item, which I think is strange. I have actually had cops testify that they have actually pulled a person over, and they went to the wrong side of the road or bumped the curb. After that they're trying to find clues from the minute they come up to your car. Once you roll down the window, they smell for alcohol.
Additionally, there are the field sobriety tests. Points like the nine-step walk and turn and the one-leg stand test. They call them attention divided tests. When they request your license, registration and insurance, that's an attention divided test due to the fact that they're aiming to see how you manage this circumstance. Other points include; did you forget to undo your safety belt when you attempted to leave the auto, or did you utilize it to get out or prop yourself? There are all types of clues for the cops.