Driving under the influence is one of the most common crimes in the country. No other crime so regularly affects individuals from all social strata. Millionaires and public housing residents are both routinely charged with a DUI. As differently situated in life as they are, their defenses, and how they should handle their cases, should be the exact same.
When pulled over for a DUI, there are a couple of things one should keep in mind. The first is that one should be respectful. The officer is only doing his or her job. Answer questions directly and as they are asked. The second point to remember is that your cooperation with law enforcement should end when you start incriminating yourself. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution gives you an inviolable right against self-incrimination. All states have their own state constitution counterpart to the federal amendment. There is never an obligation to implicate oneself in wrongdoing.
For instance, if the officer asks you if you have been drinking, you may decline to answer. If specific questions are asked regarding the amount you have been drinking, you again are under no obligation to answer. If the officer asks you to step out of the car, you may then ask if you are under arrest. At no time must you exit the vehicle and perform and tests or answer any further questions. Field sobriety tests, such as the one-legged stand and the line walking test, can be failed by someone who is completely sober. In short, they don’t tell much about your sobriety, but failure or a deficient performance on any one of them creates the perception, as wrong as it may be, of guilt.
The overall thing to remember is that you are under no obligation to incriminate yourself. No matter what assurances the officer gives you, the prosecutor is always the one who makes the final decision on how to handle your case. At the very most, be cordial, respectful and polite, but do not cave to the pressure to “cooperate”. It will not make things better, and almost always makes things worse. I have never in all my years of practice thought “Gee, I wish my client would have talked to the cops more.” However, I have said the exact opposite to myself many times – I wish they had talked less. Often, a lot less!
If you do not offer a breath sample or a blood sample, and do not participate in any field sobriety tests, you stand a good chance of getting the initial DUI charge reduced or dismissed. This isn’t manipulating the system – it’s simply exercising your constitutional rights. You can only exercise them if you know them, and that’s the point of this article, to make sure you are properly educated and equipped in the event you are ever stopped and arrested for something you may in fact not have done.
If you or someone you know has been charged with a DUI in Tennessee, contact us immediately.
