Drunk driving is not only dangerous, it is also illegal. If you are charged and convicted of drunk driving, you might pay a heavy legal and personal price. Fortunately, like any legal matter, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
If you are charged with driving under the influence, you may plead guilty or negotiate a plea deal and pay the price or fight the charge to the very end. Basically, this depends on the circumstances of your case. So how can you fight your DUI charges?
Defending yourself when charged with DUI
Your DUI case begins the moment law enforcement makes the call to pull you over for investigation. Legally speaking, the police cannot pull you over for DUI investigation on a mere whim. They must have probable cause for doing so. Basically, this means that you must be breaking some traffic rules to justify the stop. If the police do not have probable cause for the stop, you can use this at the launching pad for your DUI defense.
However, if the police did everything right from the onset, then you may have very limited room for your fighting your DUI charges. In this case, a plea bargain may make perfect sense.
Possible defense approaches
If you are facing DUI charges for the first time, and you did not cause any injuries or property damage, then you may consider the following options:
- The police did not have probable cause for pulling you over
- The police did not administer any field sobriety tests
- The police did not follow the right procedures when administering field sobriety and chemical tests
- The police used illegal means like trickery and coercion to obtain a statement from you
- The police used faulty breathalyzer equipment when administering chemical tests
Generally, your DUI defense should focus on questioning the validity of your stop or evidence collection rather than whether or not you had alcohol in your system.
Protecting your rights
Facing drunk driving charges is a big deal. Learning more about Virginia’s DUI laws can help you build up a strong defense when facing drunk driving charges.
