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Pennsylvania DUI in Court?

Upon being arrested for and charged with driving under the influence in Pennsylvania, you will probably feel terrified about what the future holds. You are aware you can lose your license, end up with a criminal record, and that jail is a possibility. There is no question a DUI is a serious charge and carries serious consequences in Pennsylvania. However, your DUI Defense Attorney will have several ways to defend you in court against the charges. So the question is: How Can I Defend a Pennsylvania DUI in Court?

Pennsylvania DUI Defenses

Depending on the circumstances of your case, some available defenses are:

1. You were not impaired

Once pulled over, police will be looking for indications you are impaired. Are your eyes bloodshot, face flush or you appear sluggish? Well, what if your bloodshot eyes were due to allergies, your face was flushed because you were running a fever, or you were sluggish because you had not slept well for two days? The police may have proceeded to administer a field sobriety test based on false assumptions.

2. The stop was not legal

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable government searches and seizures. The Pennsylvania Constitution also provides similar protection. Under the law, you can have three kinds of interactions with the police: consensual encounters, investigative stops, and arrests.

An investigative stop provides police the authority to stop your vehicle if they have a reasonable suspicion of criminal actions such as drunk driving. The police must follow the limits of what they can do in an investigative stop.

If the stop was not legal, or they had no reasonable suspicion of criminal actions, then the evidence the police obtained during it will not be admissible in court.

3. The Police had no legitimate reason to stop you

To stop and arrest you for DUI, the police must have probable cause you are committing the crime of DUI. They must be able to articulate legitimate reasons for pulling you over. If they did not have an acceptable reason to back up their actions, the court should conclude the stop violated your Constitutional rights; therefore, the evidence obtained by the police during the stop will not be admissible in court.

4. The DUI checkpoint did not meet standards

DUI checkpoints are controlled by specific standards and guidelines to be admissible in court. The checkpoint must be in an area where there are known to be intoxicated drivers, police cannot change a location on-the-fly that was agreed on by supervising officials, the roadblock must be clearly marked, and the checkpoint should be advertised in the community. Your DUI Defense Attorney will investigate the circumstances and directives surrounding the checkpoint to determine if any guidelines were not followed.

5. The BAC testing was administered incorrectly

Breath, blood, and urine tests administered to measure your BAC must be taken properly and correctly to be valid. The equipment used must be approved for testing and in good working order. If there is an irregularity in the device or the way the test was taken, the results may be inadmissible. Devices used to test breath and blood must be calibrated properly to produce reliable results that will stand up in court. Lastly, any devices used must be regularly serviced.

For blood tests, several possible errors can occur in blood tests performed in Pennsylvania DUI cases. First, can be improper blood drawing procedures. The blood must be drawn into a glass tube that contains a precise mixture of preservative and anticoagulant. If the amount of preservative is incorrect, your blood can ferment, creating alcohol and an inflated test result. If the tube does not contain enough anticoagulants, your blood will clot, which can also skew the test result upward. An independent test of your blood sample may uncover this type of error.

In cases where a blood sample was properly drawn and stored, it can still attack the results. Even accurate blood test results only show that a driver’s BAC was over the limit when the test was taken; not necessarily at the time of driving. Your body absorbs alcohol long after you stop drinking, so your BAC may have risen between the time police stopped you and the time you were tested. If you were tested more than two hours after the time of driving, you will have a strong challenge to the results of the blood testing.

The lab technicians and the machines used to test your blood sample are also sources of possible errors in blood testing.

6. You were not the driver

If you were not actually driving the vehicle, then, obviously, you cannot be convicted of DUI. The prosecutor must prove you were the one behind the wheel. If the police arrived when you and the others riding with you were not in the car, and they did not actually observe who was driving, they cannot simply assume you were the driver and testify to that in court. If you were not the driver, evidence and witnesses must be acquired to prove this fact.

7. Police Report or Dash/Body Cam Issues

Police reports often exaggerate facts to help the police prove you were drunk while driving. If your DUI case goes to trial, the officer relies heavily on his/her report for in-court testimony. When your DUI Defense Attorney obtains the report during discovery, he or she will go over it carefully for errors.

At trial, your DUI Defense Attorney will attack any discrepancies between the report and court testimony to discredit the police officer. If the police officer who arrested you filed a report with inaccuracies or misleading statements, the case will not stand up in court. The police must back up their reports with facts, not assumptions.

Additionally, your DUI Defense Attorney will obtain copies of the dash or body cam videos to see if what actually happened on the video matches the report and court testimony. If there are discrepancies, the police officer’s testimony will be viewed as unreliable.

How Paul S. Peters III, Esq. Will Help

When you are up against DUI charges, you need an attorney, like Paul S. Peters III, Esquire who will stand by you every step of the way, work hard to discredit any evidence – and work with you to determine your best course of action. Attorney Peters will advocate for your entry into the ARD program if feasible, fight for the best plea deal possible if that is your best option, or be fully prepared to defend your rights at trial and attack all evidence against you with the defenses listed above. For trial, Attorney Peters has a network of experts in different areas of DUI evidence that you will have the option to hire for testimony and analysis in your trial.

Pennsylvania DUI Law

DUI is described and defined under The Pennsylvania Code under Title 75, Chapter 38. Read the code here.

If you or a loved one have been charged with DUI in Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Lehigh, Lancaster Northampton, Berks, County, it is vital that you contact the Aggressive, Experienced, Trusted, and Compassionate Pennsylvania DUI Defense Lawyer, Paul S. Peters III, Esq.