What are some of the most common errors that you find police make regarding DUI cases in Los Angeles? At times, police may overstep their authority, leading to an illegal stop. In such cases, it's crucial to remember that you have rights and the issue becomes whether we can prove their misconduct. This underscores the importance of being cautious and aware of your rights, ensuring your security and understanding of the situation.
Often, we will try to get the dash cameras from their vehicles if they have them. The next issue will be whether or not they have probable cause to arrest the person. The police decide whether to arrest someone based on a host of different factors. How is the person driving? How are they walking? How are they talking? How do they perform on the field sobriety tests?
Video evidence is a potent tool that can expose police dishonesty. It serves as a reassuring reminder that there are ways to challenge the police's version of events, instilling a sense of confidence in your defense.
Regardless of the police's conduct, your best course of action is to enlist the services of a trained legal professional. Their ability to thoroughly review the police report and identify any misconduct that can be used to defend your DUI case should empower you to take control of your situation.
What procedures must police follow for a chain of evidence in DUI cases?
If the police take your breath, the Intoxilyzer-3000 will give you a slip of paper to show you what your blood alcohol level is. The defense will get a copy of that slip. They also have to make sure that the machine is calibrated correctly and in good working order. If they take your blood, it must be kept in a vial so that the defense can test it at a later time.
The police have to have probable cause to pull a particular person over. Probable cause is a legal standard that requires a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. They cannot force a person to do field sobriety tests; they can only ask him to do them. Before the police can arrest someone, they have to have probable cause that the person is under the influence of an illegal substance.
If they don't have probable cause, they cannot arrest the person. If they do, it would be an illegal arrest, and the case would likely be dismissed.
What if the chain of evidence was broken?
When the police mishandle evidence, such as blood or breath samples, it can break the chain of evidence. In such cases, your attorney should promptly file a motion to object to the use of that evidence by the prosecutors. If successful, this could lead to the dismissal of the case, as the evidence may be deemed unreliable and inadmissible in court, significantly weakening the prosecution's case.
Even if you're not successful in that motion, the defense should probably hire an expert to testify at trial that whatever evidence they are trying to use against you is not reliable.
For example, if someone blows in either a handheld device or a machine at the police station, both devices have an error rate.
The defense would want to call an expert to confirm with the jury that if someone blew within that error rate, they could have been below the legal limit.
If they passed all their field sobriety tests and they blew one point away, the defense may have a good argument that the person was not intoxicated. Even the prosecutor's expert will have to admit that they could have been under the legal limit.
Under certain circumstances, the police can order you out of your car and search. For instance, if they have validly stopped you and suspect that you are driving under the influence of alcohol, they can order you out of the car for their safety.
If police stop you validly and suspect that you are driving under the influence of alcohol, they can order you out of the car for officer safety.
If they smell alcohol on your breath when they pull you over, they can get you out of the car so that they can talk to you and find out if you are safe to operate a motor vehicle. Their job is to protect the public, after all.
If you get arrested for DUI, the officers can take your vehicle and impound it as part of the arrest process.
They can make sure that there are no weapons and conduct an inventory search. They also have the discretion not to take your vehicle; it is up to them.
The officer may have one of your passengers take your car so that it does not end up getting impounded. They could park it on the street. It is ultimately their decision.
Do police have to read my Miranda rights?
I don't remember if the police read my Miranda rights when I was arrested for DUI in Los Angeles County. How can we find out if they did? Unfortunately, the
Miranda rights have been eroded in many different ways. The police don't have to read anyone their Miranda rights if they don't want to.
The only time they have to read you your Miranda rights is if they want to take a statement from you while you are in custody that they will use to try to incriminate you.
