A DUI charge can be like an albatross around your neck. Washington State’s DUI laws have pretty harsh consequences; the first offense carries a punishment of imprisonment ranging from one day to one year, a fine that reaches five thousand dollars, and suspension of license from three months to a year. Hiring a skilled Kent DUI attorney can help you avoid being unjustly punished for drunk driving.
To successfully defend yourself from any DUI charges, a lawyer will have to resort to several strategies. All of them are aimed at undermining the prosecution’s case. Kathleen Michon wrote about the two things the prosecution has to do to succeed in an article for NOLO.com:
“In a DUI or DWI case, the prosecution must prove two main things: 1) the person being charged (the “defendant”) drove a vehicle and 2) at the same time, the defendant was “under the influence” — meaning that the person’s ability to drive safely was affected to an appreciable degree by drinking alcohol, taking a drug, or a combination of alcohol and drugs.”
A knowledgeable DUI defense lawyer in Kent like Kim E. Hunter would focus on either proving one of these two main things is wrong or trying to stop any evidence being presented that would support these claims. There are several tactics that an attorney can resort to so that these results can be achieved.
First is to challenge the arrest; police officers need a good reason to stop you for drunk driving. This can range from driving erratically or crossing a red light. Without a good reason for stopping you, any evidence obtained during the arrest cannot be used to convict you. Second, an attorney can present a witness or an explanation for your careless driving. This can be a lack of sleep or a cell phone conversation.
Third, the main evidence against a drunk driver is their performance in the field sobriety tests administered during the arrest and the succeeding blood alcohol content (BAC) reading. An experienced lawyer would be able to contest these pieces of evidence by providing good explanations for either the failure of their client during these tests or the high BAC; some examples are a person’s nervousness making them fail the tests or enough alcohol remaining in the mouth to account for the increased BAC count. A layman would not be able to present these reasons properly, which is why hiring a professional attorney to defend you in a DUI case is necessary.
(Source: DUI and DWI Defenses, NOLO)
