Sterling Heights Drunk Driving Attorney

Driving under the influence (DUI) is a serious offense and you should take the charges against you seriously. Particularly in cases in which someone is injured or killed, you may be facing aggressive criminal prosecution from a district attorney who wants to make an example of you. Additionally, those who have been driving under the influence on multiple occasions may find prosecutors looking at harsher sentences and judges who are less willing to cut them slack. If you have been charged with DUI in Sterling Heights, the attorneys at The Law Offices of Bradley J. Friedman can help you minimize the damage to your reputation, record, and wallet. Involve us early for best results. 

False Positives and Roadside Testing

When police pull over a driver who is suspected of operating a vehicle under the influence, they may give the driver a series of roadside sobriety tests or ask the driver to blow into a breathalyzer device. You can legally refuse any roadside test the officer demands. That forces them into the position of either arresting you for suspicion of drunk driving or letting you go. Roadside sobriety tests are designed for the sole purpose of failing you. They allow the officer to conclude based on dubious observations that you are too drunk or intoxicated to operate a motor vehicle. Meanwhile, these tests can indicate any number of things and not necessarily that you are intoxicated.

Three of the most common tests are the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the one-leg stand test, and the walk-and-turn test. Scientifically, these tests have no merit at all. While breathalyzers are considered to be scientific, they cannot differentiate between a 350 lb man who has had four beers and a 110 lb woman. In some cases, conditions such as ketosis can cause inflated breath alcohol scores. 

There is only one legitimate (scientifically accurate) way to test an individual’s blood alcohol concentration — by testing the blood itself. During this test, the officer will take a specific amount of blood (it has to be exact) and store it in a refrigerator. If the sample is not stored in a refrigerator, the blood will ferment, inflating your score. The lab test involves heating up the blood to burn off the alcohol. The alcohol is then measured. If there is too little blood in the sample, that will inflate your BAC. So, even the most accurate test must be administered properly to produce reliable results.

Once you have been arrested, you will have to submit to testing. Police will either test your breath, urine, or blood. A blood test is the most accurate, while breath tests are more prone to false positives. If you refuse these tests, your license will be automatically suspended for a year. You can also request that your blood is independently tested by a different lab to ensure that the police are not stacking the deck against you.

Talk to an Sterling Heights Drunk Driving Attorney

The Sterling Heights DUI attorneys at The Law Offices of Bradley J. Friedman understand how DUI is prosecuted and the often pseudo-scientific nonsense that gets entered into the record. Talk to us early and we can help get your charges dismissed.