DWI/DUI Defense Attorney in Colorado Springs, Colorado
What are some possible defenses to DUI charges?
What are some possible defenses to DUI charges?
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yeah so one of many possible defenses uh
to a DUI is um whether there’s any
issues with the investigation that’s
actually a really big factor in
especially in a DUI case because the
officer was the primary witness to the
DUI um they have certain things that
they need to do correctly and if they
don’t do it correctly that can have a
huge impact on the case so there’s
always ways to undermine
um the the police officer’s
investigation their thoroughess their
due diligence and if they didn’t take
certain steps the right way um sometimes
we can bring it to what’s called a
motions hearing and basically have the
judge make a legal determination that
they either violated your rights uh or
that they uh did not do the proper
investigation and therefore either
evidence needs to be suppressed or the
case needs to be dismissed the chemical
testing um it needs to be done within
two hours of having actual physical
control over the vehicle um if it’s not
done within two hours of actual physical
control um that can affect the case in a
number of different ways uh first on the
DMV side of things uh that’s enough
reason for the DMV to actually dismiss
the case on their side um which means
that it may be possible to keep your
license on the criminal side it doesn’t
generally result in a full dismissal of
the case but it does go to the weight of
the evidence and whether that test can
be taken um as being scientifically
valid at that point uh so it does
absolutely go to the significance of the
evidence and how much it may play a role
in the jury’s mind so actual physical
control is the definition of driving in
Colorado when it comes to driving under
the influence charges so it’s not always
um what people think when you know if
you are driving down the street you know
you’re in actual physical control of the
vehicle but actual physical control is
more than that from a legal perspective
so um there’s situations in which maybe
you’re sitting in the front seat uh the
keys are in the ignition but the car is
not on well a lot of times that can be
considered actual physical control and
you have to take it on on a case-by case
basis but it’s it’s really fact
dependent on when somebody is actually
in control of the vehicle for purposes
of the DUI statute and there’s all sorts
of situations um in which that can come
up and maybe intuitively you know that
you’re you’re not driving or it doesn’t
make sense that you should be considered
to be driving um but it is a different
question uh under the law as to whether
you have actual physical control of the
of the vehicle uh for the DUI statute
Colorado Springs, CO criminal defense attorney Gannon Becker talks about some of the possible defenses to DUI charges.
