Hiring a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney experienced in handling Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases is the single most important thing you can do for yourself if you have been charged with
DUI.
All too often law enforcement officials become overzealous in citing drivers for DUI. In February two men who had been issued tickets for
DUIs filed suits against the city of Chicago and the officer who cited them claiming the officer had written bogus tickets in order to wrack up over-time pay through court appearances. In 2007 a separate Chicago police officer was investigated for failing to follow proper procedure during his
DUI citations, including failure to administer a field sobriety test.
In the wake of the officer's investigation, 50 separate charges of DUIwere dropped and nearly 500 more were left in question. This past February a Rhode Island man was given a DUI citation while riding a bike. The fact that the two primary methods of determining whether or not a driver is, in fact, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, field sobriety tests administered by a policeman and breathalyzer tests, are inherently flawed and unreliable has yet to be addressed by law enforcement officials. In a confusing and often intimidating legal world, a good DUI defense attorney knows to look for details like this to help you attain the best possible outcome for your case.
Field sobriety tests, commonly referred to by officers and DUI defense lawyers as "FSTs" can be any one or combination of a dozen physical tests administered by an officer after pulling over a driver suspected of
DUI. Some of the most common are standing on one leg, walking a straight line and nystagmus (an officer asks a subject to follow an object such as a pen with their eyes). Since studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have determined the above three tests as the most effective in
determining a driver's sobriety (or lack thereof), many states have adopted them as the standard battery of tests.
Los Angeles law enforcement agencies, however, have largely ignored these recommendations and many officers may still administer whicheverFST they prefer. The problem with many
FSTs, even the above three, is that they are largely subjective and can be difficult for many sober people to pass. Extenuating factors such as minor illnesses or tiredness can give many people trouble with balance and memory. The extent to which someone pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence "passes" or "fails" these arbitrary test is also at the sole discretion of the law enforcement official on the scene.
Breathalyzer testing can also be extremely unreliable, as any
competent DUI defense lawyer knows. Most
breathalyzer machines work by attempting to detect ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, in the breath. The problem here is that the breathalyzer machine will detect any one of a number of chemical compounds that are similar in chemical structure to ethanol, but are not, in fact, alcohol at all. Medical conditions such as untreated diabetes, fasting, dieting and even certain types of bread products can all cause chemical compounds in the breath that can be misinterpreted by breathalyzer machines as ethanol, contributing to a falsely high blood alcohol reading.
If you have been charged with DUI, call the attorneys at Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP right away to begin preparing your defense.