Challenging a Prince George’s County DUI Property Damage or Personal Injury
Challenging a Prince George’s County DUI property damages or personal injury can be difficult. However, a seasoned DUI attorney has the experience to fight by your side and challenge these accusations. If you have been in an accident and have also been suspected of a DUI, reach out to a well-established lawyer right away. The sooner you obtain legal counsel, the sooner they could begin working on your case.
How a Crash Investigation Can Transition to a DUI Criminal Investigation
An accident must happen for a crash investigation to transition to a DUI criminal investigation. If an officer has the suspicion or reasonable grounds to believe that alcohol is involved or contributed to an accident by one of the operators of the vehicle, they may initiate the investigation. Sometimes an accident happens and the other driver says they believe the person is impaired or drinking and driving, because of what they smelled, what they saw, or how they acted. If the officer concurs, they could put on an investigation and, if the law provides, arrest the person, take them to the station, and ask them to do a field sobriety test or even the breath test or blood test. It depends on the nature of the circumstances and what evidence there is to believe that a person may be impaired. When this happens, the defendant may want to reach out to an attorney experienced with challenging a Prince George’s County DUI property damage or personal injury.
Alcohol Impairment Tests
The DUI tests officers conduct to detect the presence of alcohol in individuals who are injured in an accident are the same as any other DUI investigation. If someone is injured and able to do the field sobriety tests, they will be asked to do those. They may also be asked to take a breath test. If the individual was injured and had to be transported to the hospital, then they could be asked to submit a blood test while there.
If the suspected drunk driver is unconscious, however, the circumstances change. To draw blood, the police either must get a warrant or consent. So if the person is unconscious, the warrant may take too long to get. However, there is a way for law enforcement to get around it. For instance, if the hospital drew blood and the drawing of the blood was necessary for the treatment, then the police could use that drawn blood for testing.
Miranda Rights
Protected statements made during a car investigation pertains to the Miranda rights, which is the right of someone to refuse to testify or refuse to say anything during police custody and custodial interrogation. There are times when someone could say something against their own interests that a defense attorney may want to exclude, such as someone admitting that they consumed alcohol before driving. Many people do not know that at traffic or DUI stops do not implicate Miranda, meaning someone does not have to be advised of their right to remain silent during a traffic stop. Once a person has been arrested or has gone further than a basic traffic stop, they need to be advised of the right to not say anything if they are going to be interrogated or questioned by police. An individual’s knowledge of their rights can help with challenging a Prince George’s County DUI property damage or personal injury case.