Orange County DUI: Getting The Police Report And Other Evidence

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County

Most of our clients who were pulled over by the police (or stopped at a DUI checkpoint), given field sobriety tests, and arrested for drunk driving (DUI), don’t understand why the officer stopped them in the first place and are sure that they passed all the field sobriety tests. Moreover, the officer usually doesn’t tell them what they blew on the voluntary breath test (Preliminary Alcohol Screening Test or PAS). Typically, someone who has been arrested for a DUI, DUI drugs or DUI with injury will ask their DUI lawyer inOrange County how they can get ahold of the police report and see what the officer wrote. When someone who has been arrested for a DUI contacts the OrangeCounty Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, or city police department and asks for the report they are told that they must go to court to get it.

There are usually two ways of obtaining the DUI arrest report. The first way is to get it through the Orange County DistrictAttorney’s office.  However, the DA will not make the DUI arrest report available until the arraignment for charges of DUI or wet reckless. Even on the day of arraignment prosecutors are reluctant to release the report to anyone but a DUI defense attorney. Also, the DUI arrest report and the forensic alcohol report are usually the only evidence available at the arraignment. If you want other evidence from the DA, such as the video/audio recording from the police car or calibration and maintenance logs for the machine used in the blood test or breath test, this must be requested from the DA and can take several weeks for the DA to get.

The other way of getting the DUI arrest report and other evidence relevant to your DUI case is through the DMV. In order to do this you, or your DUI attorneys in Orange County, must demand a DMV hearing to contest any license suspension. Also, when the demand for a DMV hearing is made, you must specifically request “discovery” in the matter. This discovery includes the DUI arrest report and the forensic alcohol report. Once a hearing is set the DMV will mail this discovery to you or to your DUI defense lawyer. If your DUI attorney gets the report he or she SHOULD immediately send a copy to the client. Other evidence, such as the video/audio and calibration and maintenance logs for the device used in the blood test or breath test can be obtained through the DMV subpoena process.

An initial review of the DUI arrest report and the forensic alcohol report will reveal your chances of getting the DUI reduced to a wetreckless or of beating the charges altogether. If you’ve been charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in Orange County and you would like to consult with an Orange County Drug DUI attorney with outstanding case results and credentials, call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500. The consultation is free and confidential. Or visit our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

DUI Lawyer in Orange County
Orange County DUI Attorneys