Challenging a DUI Charge in Las Vegas: A Step-by-Step Guide
A conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) can result in the loss of your freedom as well as have a negative impact on your career, relationships, and finances for years to come. With that in mind, it is always wise to try to prevent a conviction if you have been charged with DUI. Challenging a DUI, however, can be complicated for anyone unfamiliar with the legal system. If you were arrested for DUI, the following guide to challenging a DUI charge in Las Vegas provides you with the steps that may be necessary to successfully win a DUI case.
Step One: Start at the Traffic Stop
Challenging a DUI in Las Vegas should begin during the initial traffic stop that leads to your arrest. While you should always be respectful to the law enforcement officer conducting the stop, you are not required to help effectuate your own arrest. Instead, exercise your right to remain silent instead of thinking you can talk your way out of being arrested. Provide identifying information only. You are also not required to perform the field sobriety tests that you will be asked to perform. Those tests are difficult to pass under the best of circumstances and rarely help a motorist evade an arrest. On the contrary, they are almost always used to provide the probable cause necessary to arrest a motorist and charge him or her with driving under the influence. Your best bet is to politely decline to perform the tests.
Step Two: Consult with an Experienced Las Vegas DUI Lawyer
You are never required to hire an attorney; however, you do have a Constitutional right to an attorney when charged with committing a criminal offense. An experienced attorney can evaluate the facts of your case, explain your rights to you, and discuss potential defense strategies with you.
Step Three: Challenging the Initial Stop
Contrary to what many people believe, a law enforcement officer cannot conduct a traffic stop without a reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation or a criminal violation has occurred. In other words, they need a reason to pull you over and conduct an investigation. That reason, however, may amount to a “pretextual” stop, meaning the officer’s official reason for stopping you is that your license plate light has burned out when the officer suspects that you are driving under the influence. The officer must also have sufficient cause to continue to detain you after addressing the reason for the initial stop. If the officer cannot articulate a legal reason for initiating the stop and a reason for turning the stop into a DUI investigation, everything that happened after that point may be inadmissible.
Step Four: Challenging the Validity of the Breathalyzer Results
After you are placed into custody under suspicion of DUI, you will be transported to the jail or detention facility where you will be asked to submit to a chemical breath test. You can refuse to submit to the test; however, the Nevada implied consent law effectively says that by operating a motor vehicle within the state you have given your consent to a chemical test if a law enforcement officer suspects you of driving under the influence. Refusing the test will result in an immediate suspension of your driving privileges. If you take the test, the prosecution will usually try to use the results as evidence against you at trial. Challenging the validity of those results is often a winning defense strategy. User error, procedural missteps, and an improperly calibrated machine are just a few of the reasons why breath test results could be invalidated. If the results are proven to be compromised or invalidated, the prosecution cannot use the results as evidence against you at trial.
What Should I Do If I Was Arrested for DUI in Las Vegas?
If you were arrested and charged with DUI in Las Vegas, consult with a criminal defense attorney at The Vegas Lawyers as soon as possible to discuss your next steps. Call us at 702-707-3000 or contact us online.