Driving while under the influence of alcohol is a criminal offense. A conviction on DUI / DWI charges may result in fines, the revocation or suspension of your driver's license, and possible jail time. In addition, your insurance company may increase your rates to an unmanageable level.

In any instance in which an individual is accused of drunk driving with a minor in the vehicle, the state now charges child abuse and aggravated DUI. This is a serious felony charge and carries a severe sentence if convicted.

Throughout our years of practice, we have defended countless individuals charged with DUI/DWI, with tremendous success in either pleading their cases to a lesser offense or getting a not guilty finding from the jury. We am familiar with the law, the types of tests that the police use and their procedures generally. We can tell you if you have a legal challenge or if the police have violated your rights after I have an opportunity to investigate your case. This is where our extensive experience in this area is invaluable.

How can a DUI/DWI attorney help?
An experienced attorney can do many things to challenge and disprove the evidence against the accused.

• Review the calibration and maintenance records of the machine used to test blood alcohol level. It is falsely believed that these machines are infallible. People forget that these machines are made of up of metal, plastic, and silicon. To believe that they always work, every time, is like believing your car will never break down. Machines don't always work properly.

• File pretrial motions to suppress the evidence. These motions, when argued successfully, almost always result in the DUI/DWI case being dismissed.

• Retest the blood by a private lab.

• Hire an analyst to determine if the driver's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was rising. This defense may prove that the driver's blood was actually less than Arizona's legal limit at the time of driving.

• Photograph the scene the arrest. This may be helpful in showing that the ground was not level when the driver was performing the field coordination tests.

• Effectively cross-examine the officer to expose mistakes and inaccuracies in the gathering of evidence.

Potential Defenses to a charge of DUI/DWI
Potential defenses in a given drunk driving case are almost limitless due to the complexities of the offense. Roughly speaking, however, the majority can be broken down into the following areas:

• Driving. Intoxication is not enough: the prosecution must also prove that the defendant was driving. This may be difficult if, as in the case of some accidents, there are no witnesses to his being the driver of the vehicle.

• Probable cause. Evidence will be suppressed if the officer did not have legal cause to (a) stop, (b) detain, and (c) arrest. Sobriety roadblocks present particularly complex issues.

• Miranda. Incriminating statements may be suppressed if warnings were not given at the appropriate time.

• Under the influence. The officer's observations and opinions as to intoxication can be questioned -- the circumstances under which the field sobriety tests were given, for example, or the subjective (and predisposed) nature of what the officer considers as "failing". As well, witnesses can testify that you appeared to be sober.

• Blood-alcohol concentration. There exists a wide range of potential problems with blood, breath or urine testing. "Non-specific" analysis, for example: most breath machines will register many chemical compounds found on the human breath as alcohol. And breath machines assume a 2100-to-1 ratio in converting alcohol in the breath into alcohol in the blood; in fact, this ratio varies widely from person to person (and within a person from one moment to another). Radio frequency interference can result in inaccurate readings. These and other defects in analysis can be brought out in cross-examination of the state's expert witness, and/or the defense can hire its own forensic chemist.

• Testing during the absorptive phase. The blood, breath or urine test will be unreliable if done while you are still actively absorbing alcohol (it takes 30 minutes to three hours to complete absorption; this can be delayed if food is present in the stomach). Thus, drinking "one for the road" can cause inaccurate test results.

• Retrograde extrapolation. This refers to the requirement that the BAC be "related back" in time from the test to the driving. Again, a number of complex physiological problems are involved here.

• Regulation of blood-alcohol testing. The prosecution must prove that the blood, breath or urine test complied with state requirements as to calibration, maintenance, etc.