Tuesday, March 26, 2013

DUI Arrest And Implied Consent


If you are pulled over by the police, Orange County Sheriff’s, or the CHP and arrested for a DUI, the law requires that you submit to a breath test or blood test. DUI Lawyers in Orange County know that under the “deemed consent” provision of Vehicle Code §23612 anyone who drives a car is deemed to have given his or her consent to “chemical testing” of his or her blood, breath or urine. When a person is arrested for DUI they are given only a choice between tests of blood and breath, even though a urine test may be used if the other tests are unavailable. If you are arrested for drunk driving and you choose the breath test, then you must also be advised by the arresting officer that no breath sample is retained and that, consequently you may also have a blood or urine sample collected for later analysis if you so choose. The testing must be “incidental’ to a lawful arrest and the arrestee must be told that failure to submit to or complete the required test will result in a “refusal”, which is a separate charge bringing serious penalties.

Failure of the arresting officer to properly admonish you will NOT result in the suppression of any test result that they did get or in a dismissal of the charge. In fact the only real consequence of failing to properly admonish it that if the case goes to trial your DUI Attorney in Orange County gets to tell the jury that the police officer did not give the proper admonishment required by law. Although that doesn’t seem like much, (and it isn’t), I’ve seen a jury return a not guilty verdict because they did not like the fact that the police officer did not follow the law. Moreover, DUI defense attorneys know that if they can show a systematic pattern of the officer not admonishing DUI arrestees, then the failure of the officer to properly give the implied consent admonishment may give rise to a dismissal.
A person arrested for an Orange County DUI has the right to have a sample of either blood or urine retested by an independent agency at the arrestee’s expense. Usually, the arrestee’s DUI lawyer need only file an order for such testing, which is routinely signed. The DA’s failure to comply with such an order or the prosecutor’s failure to preserve the sample for future analysis may lead to the test when the arrestee’s Orange County DUI Attorney files a motion to suppress the evidence
If you face charges for a DUI in Orange County and would like to know your options, call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 to consult with an Orange County DUI lawyer today. The consultation is free and confidential. Or visit our website at www.EJEsquire.com.
Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

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