Gainesville DUI Lawyer

LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS

You are not required to submit to field sobriety test; unlike the state-administered blood and breath tests at a police station or hospital. Field sobriety tests take place on the side of the road when you are initially pulled over by a police officer. Often, an officer will ask for an official chemical test at the station or at the hospital even after you have refused to submit to a field sobriety test. You have to take this official test or you may face automatic license suspension for up to a year.

Field sobriety tests have been designed to cause you to fail in an effort to build a case against you. These tests can be difficult for a completely sober driver to pass - they often have serious issues with accuracy and validity and the evidence gained from one of these tests can often be compromised.

The evaluation methods for a field sobriety test are subjective and the results can be easily misinterpreted. These tests can also be improperly administered, thus impacting the results. Often, the arresting officer has already decided that you are DUI and is only looking for evidence that confirms his suspension. Everything the officer does after pulling you over is designed to get a conviction in your case.

Attorney Richard S. Lawson has been certified by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for 10 years. He has gone through the same training as the police officer who arrested you and knows how to identify flaws in the administration and scoring of a field sobriety test. The test proven most accurate by the NHTSA is only correct 77% of the time, yet law enforcement in Gainesville continue to use this method to establish probable cause and arrest you for DUI. If you have been subjected to a field sobriety test and were subsequently arrested, contact a Gainesville DUI lawyer.

DUI DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN GAINESVILLE

Even if you refuse the field sobriety test, you are required to take the state mandated chemical test at the precinct or hospital. If you refuse this test, you can have you license suspended for up to a year as a penalty. If you are pulled over at a road-side checkpoint, law enforcement officers do not need probable cause for the initial stop - they may ask you to perform a field sobriety test so that they can get probable cause to arrest you.

Contact a Hall County DUI lawyer from the Law Offices of Richard S. Lawson if you have been arrested for DUI and part of the process included field sobriety testing.