If you are innocent: Feel confident that your DUI case will be sorted out. Talking to police officers will not result in charges being dismissed. Do not discuss your DUI case with anyone. The St. Lucie County officers that arrested you believe you are guilty, anything you say might make it more difficult for your DUI attorney Jeff Gorman to establish your innocence. Even if you feel you’ve done something wrong, you may be guilty of a less serious crime than what the St. Lucie County police is charging you with. Even if proven guilty, your DUI attorney Jeff Gorman can be helpful by getting you the best DUI sentencing outcome possible.

Driving Under the Influence or DUI laws tend toward heavy penalties and tougher legislation because DUIs cause over one third of all traffic fatalities, according to Nolo. Being arrested for DUI means that a police officer found that you were driving after or while consuming alcohol. In almost every state the DUI law includes a blood alcohol concentration level (BAC) was 0.08 percent or higher. The type of crime—misdemeanor or felony—depends on the circumstances at the time of the arrest. This means that a first-time arrest may be considered a misdemeanor. However, if there were injures, fatalities or if this is the third or fourth time then DUI laws may bump the misdemeanor to a felony.

DUI Defenses Vary Between Challenging the Arrest and Driving

Typically, a police officer stops drivers who appear to be driving while under the influence. However, one defense you may use to win the case is if the police officer didn’t actually observe you driving. For instance, drivers who are sitting in a car at the time the police approaches can debatable the charge since there was no probable cause for the officer to approach. Another defense is challenging whether the officer stopped you—while you were driving—because you appeared drunk or the car you were driving or your race.

You can also challenge the police officer’s observation about you being drunk. As part of your defense, you may have witness, who observed you that night, testify. If the witnesses contend that you didn’t drink that night or were sober, then it may impeach the officer’s testimony.

Another DUI defense is to explain why you appeared to be drunk when you really weren’t. For instance, you could have failed the sobriety field test because you too sleepy to understand the commands or took medication that made you sleepy.

DUI Plea Options

You have options when dealing with a DUI charge. For instance, you can simply plead guilty or accept a plea bargain for a lesser charge. Another option is to going to trial. During the trial a judge will decide your guilty or innocence.