You must be careful if driving under the influence (DUI) or operating under intoxication (0WI) since you may face harsher penalties if caught driving under the influence (DUI). In addition, an arrest for DUI can have serious consequences that can last a lifetime.
In addition to the prison sentence, fines, license suspension, and requirements for alcohol treatment all increase with every subsequent offense. If you have been indicted on charges of DUI again, you should consult with an accomplished defense lawyer as early as possible.
People who return to drinking too soon after their first arrest commonly experience lapses in judgment or poor decision-making. With this in mind, how can an attorney help you with your second DUI offense? This article explains how an attorney can help you with your second DUI.
What Are the Administrative Penalties?
The Indiana Motor Vehicle Bureau (BMV) suspends your license if you fail or refuse to take a chemical test. If you fail a test, your license may be suspended for 180 days or two years if you refuse to provide the test result.
- Negotiate on Your Behalf
An experienced DUI lawyer in Indiana may help you receive a lower sentence by negotiating the most advantageous terms. However, when it comes to a DUI attorney in Indianapolis, IN, you need an experienced DUI lawyer from Trapp Law, LLC with the necessary expertise and knowledge to help you negotiate with the prosecutor and judge. An intelligent lawyer will have the ability to bargain for the best possible sentence, handle your issues diplomatically, and have the intellect to understand them.
- Challenge the Chemical Breath Machine
In some DUI instances, the breathalyzer device that the police officer uses to collect your breath is calibrated or maintained improperly. As a result, the officer operating the breath testing machine in question might not have received the necessary training or might have let his Indiana coaching certification lapse.
Your lawyer may also think about challenging the calibration or maintenance of the breath testing machine. Furthermore, if the police officer administering the test does not follow proper procedure, including approaching you for a significant amount of time before the test, swabbing your blood draw site with a non-alcoholic cleanser, or including anticoagulants in the vial storing your blood.
If a person works in an acetone-exposed environment, they may have acetone in their systems, which can affect breathalyzer test results and result in incorrect readings.
Additionally, mouth alcohol should not be a reason for your arrest. In Indiana, it is not wrong to drive after a drink unless the alcohol level precedes a BAC of 0.8. However, the BAC measurement on the breathalyzer can be affected by the alcohol absorbed into a suspect’s body before taking the test.
- Challenge the Sobriety Test
The police often use the horizontal gaze nystagmus test in field sobriety. The test includes looking for involuntary jerking of your eyes, and an inability to follow an item left and right. This test comprises three checks: the walk and turn, the one-leg, and the one-leg stand. The police will instruct you to maintain a straight path for nine steps before turning and walking back in the opposite direction.
The police do the FST test for signs of intoxication. But it is only 82% reliable. To pass the test, you must stand on one leg and begin counting until told to stop. During this time, the officer observes for imbalance. Then, your DUI lawyer can investigate whether the officer performed the breath test appropriately following the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, these sobriety tests are not 100% effective. In addition, your lawyer may challenge the results concerning factors such as medical conditions, lack of natural coordination, police errors, and environmental conditions.
Performing a horizontal nystagmus test on a driver with a neurological injury, a skeletal or movement disorder, or both may result in a false positive and an FST refusal. Damage or malfunctioning in your ear can also cause you to stumble during the balance portions of the test. Inability to walk heel-to-toe might result from many issues, including feet, legs, spine, and muscle troubles. Your lawyer will dispute the results if the test designation was not to detect if the driver was severely pigeon-toed.
- Challenge Your Grounds of Arrest
To protect against a second DUI in Indiana, you must first prevent the initial stop of the vehicle. Once your lawyer has successfully challenged the stop, he increases your chances of any further evidence of intoxication at trial by exclusion. Police officers cannot randomly stop a vehicle because they feel that the driver is intoxicated. The police must instead have a reasonable suspicion that the motorist is intoxicated.
- Stop you From Pleading too Fast
People often plead out of their second-offense DUI prematurely because they want to finish them quickly. However, pleading too fast can be a novice mistake. A lawyer has a hand on experience relating to the police and judges. Therefore, understand when to plead and when not to plead.
- Determine the Best Plea for Your Case
The charge you plead to can significantly affect your penalty in a DUI second offense case. In most cases, people think they must plead “guilty” or “not guilty” when they enter a plea. However, to ensure you are not penalized for OWI, you may also plead “No Contest.” Your DUI lawyer can help you decide which approach is best for your case.
A lawyer can help decrease the charge by explaining that it is difficult to manage finances, advance in a career, or for other reasons. In addition, they are adept at negotiating with prosecutors and police officers, who are familiar with the charges.
- Reduce Imprisonment Time
For a second DUI offense in Indiana, you may face jail time. An experienced DUI lawyer challenges the charge against you. They can help reduce your sentence. If the attorney can win, they may help reduce your sentence.
Trapp Law LLC Can Help with Your Second DUI Charge
Do you have a second DUI charge? Have you submitted a breath test? If you have submitted a breath test, it’s time to act. Contact us and get help staying out of jail.