Posted by duijim in on October 19, 2023
An Atlanta DUI conviction carries with it severe criminal and driver’s license penalties that should be mitigated with the assistance of an experienced DUI attorney. One way to minimize these punishments is to fight these accusations with legal assistance from a legal professional.
At the core of many DUI cases lies a blood alcohol content (BAC) test. We can challenge this evidence in various ways, including statutory discoveries and by providing exculpatory evidence.
Breathalyzers are not always accurate
Breath and blood tests are generally accepted as reliable forms of DUI testing; however, they may contain flaws that can be exploited during DUI defense proceedings.
Certain medical conditions can significantly impact how your body processes alcohol. Furthermore, diets low in carbohydrates and high in proteins may also skew test results. Furthermore, external factors like temperature and weather can have an effect on test results as can the calibration and maintenance of breath testing machines that measure them accurately.
Drugs may interfere with breathalyzer tests as well. If you were taking prescription or over-the-counter medications prior to being stopped by law enforcement officers, these may have affected your results negatively. Even mouthwash and cleaning products could skew results negatively and alter a breath test result.
A quality DUI attorney will investigate all potential reasons why your breath or blood test could have been inaccurate, such as the physical state of the testing location, whether Miranda Warnings were given before being asked to blow into a portable breath test device and the age and health of those calibrating its equipment, among others.
Police officers investigating suspected DUI can conduct various forms of testing to assess your driving ability. Aside from administering handheld breath tests, officers can request additional evaluations such as one-leg stand, alphabet and walk-the-line evaluations on suspect drivers. While these roadside assessments are optional, prosecutors often rely on them when building their DUI less safe case against defendants.
Your arresting officer may take you to a nearby police station for a pre-trial BAC test. Although these procedures should follow an exacting plan, any deviation could render your results invalid and therefore inadmissible in court proceedings against DUI charges.
An arrest for DUI can significantly limit your freedom, cause you to lose your job and have lasting repercussions in your family life. Furthermore, such convictions could destroy your reputation and make college enrollment or employment impossible in the future. When facing DUI charges in Atlanta, it is essential that you contact an experienced Atlanta DUI lawyer as soon as possible. Early intervention strategies can help protect you from jail time, preserve your license and safeguard against irreparable damage to your reputation.
Breathalyzers are not always reliable
Many Georgia DUI cases hinge on the results of a breath test administered either at roadside or police station; be it hand-held device at roadside or larger machine at police station. Results from breathalyzers can have lasting repercussions for a person’s reputation and professional future as well as sentencing to prison; yet their accuracy cannot always be relied upon and can often be challenged due to various reasons.
One of the main factors for contesting a breathalyzer test is improper maintenance and calibration of the machine, especially with regard to Georgia DUI cases involving an Intoxilyzer 9000 device used commonly for such testing, which has been known to give false positives due to factors like mouth alcohol, breath sprays, physical conditions such as acid reflux or dental diseases or even temperature variations in air. An experienced Atlanta DUI lawyer can assess your test results for such factors that could influence its result.
One reason to challenge a breath test may be that its administrator did not follow proper procedure when administering it, such as following industry-recommended 20-minute observation timeframe to reduce mouth contamination risk and ensure testing kits are untampered with or altered so as to be free from potential errors such as electromagnetic fields from nearby electronic devices affecting results of tests administered.
Savannah DUI lawyers may also challenge breath test results by showing that requesting independent blood or urine test violated their driver’s rights, such as refusing transport to their hospital of choice or forcing them to withdraw money necessary to pay for it at police stations – acts that violate Implied Consent Law and should be considered violations.
We can also challenge the results of breath or urine tests by asserting that proper chain-of-custody protocols were not adhered to during sample collection. This may help invalidate test results as well.
Though challenging a breath test can make an impactful difference to your case, it’s also essential to keep in mind that how you behaved during a traffic stop or arrest could have an impactful bearing. If you acted belligerently during this stop or arrest, that will likely work against you in court; conversely if you cooperated with officers and were polite during their interactions this would probably go in your favor.
An Atlanta DUI defense lawyer will use all available evidence in your case to build the strongest possible case in your defense. We can also assist in protecting you against any charges brought against you – so reach out today and schedule a consultation session with one of our seasoned lawyers – they can fight to reduce or throw out charges entirely, safeguard your reputation by keeping employment opportunities open, or prevent jail time from taking effect.