How Can I Be Prosecuted Without Knowing My Blood Alcohol Level?
Law enforcement designed and utilized field sobriety tests to catch people for DUIs. Law enforcement is specifically trained to ask you if you have anything to drink.
Most people admit they had one or two drinks, and that's their cue to try to get you for a DUI. They're going to use those field sobriety tests to prove that you're driving under the influence of alcohol.
They're going to have to say you failed a field sobriety test to arrest you, so we've got to assume that those tests are skewed against you as a defendant in the case. The officers giving those tests are individuals trying to prove a DUI versus seeing whether you're unsafe to drive.
Your best bet is to get to an attorney, tell them how you think you did on the test, and get a copy of the law enforcement findings related to the test. Then, you will be in the best position to decide what to do with the DUI case moving forward and what, if any, validity those field sobriety tests have related to your case.
When DUI laws were enacted, the legislature, police, prosecuting agencies, and judges realized that if they didn't put some mechanism in place to guard against individuals refusing the test, then they were going to have no way to be able to prove that a particular individual was driving under the influence.
They've made it so that if someone refuses to take the test, there will be a presumption that they are driving under the influence. There will be an automatic DUI for that person unless they can somehow refute the idea and bring evidence that shows they weren't driving under the influence of alcohol.
As you might guess, that is a tricky thing to show.
It's a bad idea to refuse to take a breath or blood test, and it is part of getting a driver's license that if the police think you might be driving under the influence of alcohol, you've got to take the test.
If you don't, you'll lose your driver's license for one year with no exceptions and no restrictions. One of the only defenses is that the police didn't correctly administer or explain the refusal law to you. Once you say you're not taking any tests, they're supposed to tell you, in no uncertain terms, that if you don't take the test, you're going to lose your driver's license for a year.