Top 5 Mistakes People Make in Maryland DUI Cases
Below, an experienced Maryland DUI lawyer discusses the most common mistakes people make when dealing with a potential DUI charge. To discuss your case call and schedule a consultation today.
#1 Taking a Field Sobriety Test
The first mistake that people make is not knowing that field sobriety tests are voluntary. Because field sobriety tests are voluntary, the biggest mistake that I see people make is doing the field sobriety test.
Field Sobriety Tests Are Not Fair
Field sobriety tests are not fair. They do not actually test to see if someone is impaired by alcohol, rather they provide the officer with a reason to arrest the suspected DUI driver. When they administer the field sobriety tests, they are testing someone’s ability to divide their attention. They want to see if the person has an inability to follow a long stream of directions.
The officer is trained to give a long list of directions very quickly, and they mark someone off for things that they would not think are important when walking in a straight line. They will mark someone off for not standing in the correct instructional position or starting the test before instructed to do so, for example.
They mention it to the person, but they mention it in passing and often very quickly. Most people fail field sobriety tests not because they are impaired, but because the test itself is not fair.
It is a huge mistake to do them because they are voluntary and there are no penalties for refusing to do them. People mistakenly do the field sobriety tests because officers don’t tell them that they are voluntary. Officers often tell people that they are going to do this field sobriety test, so people don’t know that they can refuse to do them. That is the first and biggest mistake that people make in DUI cases.
#2 Not Knowing Potential Penalties
The second big mistake that people make is not understanding the consequences for the different penalties on their driver’s license. There are three sets of penalties for an individual’s driver’s license, and not knowing what those are or understanding how they would apply in that particular case is a big mistake that people make.
People often tell me that they only had one or two drinks, but that they refused to do the test because they thought that two drinks would put them significantly over the limit. Usually, an individual who only has one or two drinks will have a BAC below 0.08 percent, depending on their weight and what they are drinking.
Seeing those people refuse to do a test and take a tougher hit on their driver’s license can be a very frustrating experience. Many people do not understand that because the officer incorrectly stated the law to them, there is definitely something that we can do to remedy the situation, such as requesting an administrative hearing to challenge the MVA’s case and helping them keep their license.
#3 Not Requesting An Administrative Hearing
That ties in nicely to the third mistake that people often make, which is not requesting administrative hearings or not letting a lawyer look at their case before deciding whether or not they should request an administrative hearing. People will call me 45 days after the incident took place with a very defensible administrative case, but they’ve called me too late to request the hearing. Not understanding the law as it applies to a person’s driver’s license and not understanding the process are incredibly big mistakes.
#4 Not Knowing Where You Got Your DUI
The fourth major mistake that I see people make in DUI cases is not paying attention or not knowing where they got their DUI. Every jurisdiction is going to be different in a DUI case. An individual will want to take a different course of action if they got their DUI in Prince George’s County than if they got their DUI in Howard County, for example. Not knowing where they got their DUI can be a big mistake.
#5 Not Hiring Legal Representation
The last big mistake that people make often is not getting competent legal representation. That is extremely important in a DUI case because their liberty, livelihood, and future are all on the line. It is a big mistake to not have somebody who knows the law and the process in that jurisdiction advocating on behalf of the defendant. I have seen people walk into court completely unprepared for their case who have not done anything to show the judge how they are going to handle the case. Some people do not even know whether or not their case is defensible, so they walk in and plead guilty. That is a huge mistake that people make in DUI cases.
Why Do People Make These Mistakes?
A lot of it comes down to a lack of experience. Most of the people who get DUIs have never had any involvement in the criminal justice system. They are not people who have a long criminal history. What they know and understand about the law comes from TV or movies. Also, officers take advantage of the fact that people do not know the law in a lot of ways. For example, when administering the field sobriety tests, the officers do not tell people that the tests are voluntary and that there is no penalty for refusing to do the test. If they did, a lot more people would refuse to do them. It is a combination of lack of experience in a specialized area of law and police officers taking advantage of that lack of understanding of the law.
How Do You As The Lawyer Remedy These Issues With The Case?
Because I do know the law, I can see where officers have made mistakes in making the arrest, in doing the breath test, and in the advice of rights. There are a lot of little things that the officers have to do right in order to make the evidence admissible. I am able to challenge aspects that an untrained layman would not know to challenge. Additionally, because I understand the process, I am able to file all of the correct motions involved in the handling of a DUI case.
I make timely speedy trial demands, demands for discovery, and demands for the presence of all of the people involved in the breath test. I also request the records for the breath machine and examine those. These are all things that individuals cannot do on their own because they have no experience or understanding of how the system works.