If you are one of the millions of Americans who enjoy a few glasses of wine when you spend your hard-earned cash on dinner out, or are contemplating the drive home after the bars, you likely want to know what to do if you get stopped on the way home.? I wish that I could list tips that would help minimize the legal and financial costs of a DWI conviction in Missouri?but I can?t.? So what do you do?
DON?T DRIVE if you have had more than two drinks in the hour before you get behind the wheel.? If you consider yourself a ?lightweight? or are the ?sober driver,? don?t drive if you?ve been drinking at all in the last hour.? Definitely don?t drive if you have exceeded two drinks an hour in the hours before you decide to drive home.? Although alcohol absorption rates may vary due to a person?s weight, sex, and food intake, most people will flush out one drink an hour and three in an hour will put an average person close to or over the .08 mark.? If you cannot keep track of how much you have been drinking, you probably shouldn?t be driving. REMEMBER:? Cab fare is always cheaper than an arrest for DWI, whether you end up with a conviction or not.
DO BE COOPERATIVE. Don?t, however, try to chat it up with the officer.? Give the officer your driver?s license and insurance card and keep your mouth shut and give him only the information he asks for.? Contrary to popular belief, things you say prior to being Mirandized and placed under arrest can be used as evidence against you. Once you have been detained longer than it takes to check your driving status and write a ticket?in other words, the officer asks you to do field sobriety tests (HGN?the eye test, walk and turn, one-leg stand), including blowing into a portable breathalyser?you should consider yourself ?in custody.?? That means you may exercise your right to remain silent under Miranda and you should tell the officer that you are doing so when he asks you why you are so quiet.? He?ll tell you that you aren?t under arrest, but you are not free to leave, so you are technically under arrest, BUT
DON?T ARGUE WITH THE COP. To reiterate, keep your mouth shut! ?Nuff said.
IF YOU HAVE NO PRIOR DWIs, it is usually best do the field sobriety tests and consent to a breath, or other chemical test.? As much as we lawyers hate to advise anyone to risk a DWI arrest and conviction, in Missouri if you refuse to submit to chemical testing you are subject to a one-year suspension of your driving privilege, whether you are over the limit or not.? Once you say no when the officer asks you to do the breath test, he will consider it a refusal and typically, you won?t be given a second chance.? If you do not give an adequate sample?i.e., you don?t blow hard enough?this will also be considered a refusal. If there is some medical reason why you can?t give a breath sample, you may or may not be asked to submit to blood testing.? See FAQ regarding refusals.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS and don?t start doing the test until the officer tells you to start.? Fails to follow instructions and starts the test before being asked are two of the the clues of intoxication according the the NHTSA Manual.? As for doing the tests, just follow the instructions and don?t ask for do-overs.? ?Results? of the field sobriety tests can be challenged in court.
IF YOU HAVE ONE OR MORE PRIOR DWIs,? a new conviction will result in a revocation of your driving privilege for one, five, or ten years, so the general advice is to? not do the field sobriety tests, blow, or consent to a blood test.? It is likely that if you have a prior DWI, a warrant will be requested for a blood sample and you will not have a choice about this.
Again, the most important rule in this situation is be polite and say as little as possible.? Do stop yourself from trying to convince the cop that you aren?t drunk.? No matter what you say to the officer, your statements will not sway him and you may talk yourself into an arrest rather than out of one.
?
Source: http://i-70trafficlawcenter.com/Latest-News/index.php/2011/09/07/have-you-been-drinking/
suffolk county air india minka kelly phd phd pax jurassic park
No comments:
Post a Comment