5 Questions Great DUI Attorneys Ask In DUI Cases Involving Accidents
If you have been charged with a DUI involving an accident then it is very important that you hire a great DUI attorney. The best DUI lawyers will ask the five questions listed below to help you in your defense
1. When did the accident occur? This is one of the most important facts to determine in your case. Too often the officer will use the time that they were dispatched to the scene as the time of the accident. Then the officer will forget to actually ask the driver or any other eyewitnesses of the actual time of the accident. In some states in order for the breathalyzer to be admitted into evidence it must be performed within a certain period of time of the driving. If there is no evidence of when the accident actually occurred then the state may not be able to use the breathalyzer without calling in further expert witnesses.
2. Were standardized field sobriety tests performed after the accident? After an accident, you motor skills may be impaired even if you are not intoxicated. You may have unknown injuries that could affect your coordination and motor skills. Many times the results of the standardized field sobriety tests can be thrown out or discredited, because they were performed on someone who was just in an accident.
3. What do the dispatch tapes reveal? Dispatch tapes will tell you exactly when the call about the accident came in and what exactly was said. The best DUI attorneys will move quickly to get this information so they have all the facts about your case.
4. Did the driver have an opportunity to drink between the accident and the arrest? If the officer fails to question the driver about whether or not he or she drank after the accident but before the police got to the driver, then there may be no way to know whether or not the driver was drinking after the accident. Often times people get into accidents and then just walk home or somewhere else. If this is the situation in your DUI case then this may be a legitimate defense.
5. What can be learned about the scene of the accident? The best DUI lawyers go to the scene of the accident to learn more about how the accident occurred. I have seen cases where attorneys won the case because they could speak about the scene in more detail than the officer, and could should that some of the officers assumptions or observations were incorrect. The best attorneys will also look to see if there are any records showing a lot of other accidents at that location. This evidence may indicate that the design of the road is what caused the accident and not any intoxication.
These are the questions the best Florida DUI attorneys ask when dealing with a DUI with a related accident. These attorneys go the extra mile. That is why they are they win. That is why they are the best.