If you’ve recently been arrested for DUI or DWI, you could be facing serious consequences. In Nevada, these can include anything from the suspension of your driver’s license and significant fines to ignition locks, breathalyzers, and even possible jail time.
Fortunately, with the help of the right DUI defense attorney, there are several common defenses you can use to strengthen your case and pursue a more positive outcome.
The Breath Test Was Inaccurate
Also known as breathalyzers, roadside breath tests are designed to identify the number of alcohol particles in your lungs at any given moment. Once identified, the breathalyzer analyzes this information to determine your Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC.
And, if the BAC reading is .08 or higher, you will likely face the prospect of an immediate arrest, as well as the charge of Driving Under the Influence (DUI).
However, there are various factors that can directly affect breathalyzer accuracy. These factors can not only result in inaccurate BAC readings but can have serious ramifications for your case throughout the process.
What factors impact breathalyzer accuracy?
Gastric reflux, asthma, and symptoms of fever can all have a significant impact on breathalyzer readings. Such readings can also vary widely based on even the slightest differences in individual physiology.
What’s more: Even at optimal efficiency, an intoxilyzer still produces a margin of error of about 10%.
A DUI defense attorney, like Garrett Ogata can help identify issues with your breathalyzer test and prepare a defense that puts you in the best position possible.
Field Sobriety Test Was Inaccurate
In Nevada, you are required to exit your vehicle whenever law enforcement requests you to do so. However, you are not required to perform a field sobriety test, no matter the situation.
That said, if you completed a field sobriety test and failed, you likely have legal options not only for challenging that test, but for turning the tide in your favor.
That’s because field sobriety tests are notoriously inaccurate. Factors like bad balance, vertigo, being overweight, existing injuries, and even ear infections can impair your ability to complete the balance and walking requirements involved in a standard field sobriety test. Not only that, but such tests are ill-designed and significantly biased against vulnerable populations, including the elderly, people with disabilities and those coping with obesity.
An experienced DUI defense attorney understands how and when to challenge the validity of these tests, ensuring they cannot be used against you throughout the course of your case.
Illegal Stop of a Person or Vehicle
Another possible defense available to many DUI litigants is that of the illegal stop.
Whenever possible, a skilled DUI attorney works to determine if the initial traffic stop was performed in a legal manner. To be legal, the officer in question must have had probable cause to believe that a traffic law, or other laws, were being violated at the time.
Failure to meet the probable cause standard in your case means the officer was never authorized to pull you over. And when that’s proven to be the case, your charges are likely to be dismissed or invalidated altogether,
If you are currently facing DUI or DWI charges in Nevada, contact the Law Offices of Garrett T. Ogata at (702) 707-7085.
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