Now that the end-of-the-year holiday season is over, you might realize how much the drunk driving charge you got after the big party might affect your life. Instead of sitting around sulking and thinking about what ifs, now is the time for you to start thinking about your defense strategy that you will employ.
There are several different options that you have when you are facing drunk driving charges. No matter what, you have to use the option that provides a factual account of what happened. You can’t lie as part of your defense because that could certainly backfire on you.
It is possible to use an affirmative defense, which can include claims of entrapment or coercion. This means that you acknowledge that you did drive drunk but that the circumstances at the time required you to do that. This can be a difficult strategy to utilize, so you should fully understand how to do so if this is the option that you have to use.
It is also possible to call the claims of the prosecution into account. This could be questioning the blood alcohol concentration test result that is being used as the backbone of the case. It could also mean calling the reason for the traffic stop into question. The chain of custody, method of testing and calibration of equipment are also included in this type of defense.
Some DUI defenses hinge on scientific evidence regarding the rising BAC. In this case, you would claim that your BAC was lower than the allowed limit while you were behind the wheel but that it increased after the stop and before the sample was taken.
Source: FindLaw, “Defenses to Drunk Driving,” accessed Jan. 06, 2017
