I will begin this post as I will begin
many others; please don't drink and drive. It's stupid
and REALLY expensive if you get caught, not to mention
you might kill someone. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE. That
being said, here's some tips on what you can do if you
get pulled over and the officer could suspect you of
drinking.
Once the police officer is at your window,
he will likely have some questions for you. Here
is the best way to proceed through this conversation
without going to jail.
1. Don't be rude.
Chances are, the officer is not having a good night;
they rarely are. While you may think that acting
indignant at even the thought of being pulled over can
only prove your innocence, there is no "suspect was indignant" checkbox for the officer to fill out.
Instead, the rudeness you show the officer will likely
come back to you several fold. What might have
just been a speeding ticket has now turned into a full
investigation of where you've been, who you've been
with, where you're going, if you are doing (or
transporting) anything illegal.
2. Don't
be too nice either. As mentioned
here, you
don't want to be too nice. Giving the officer
permission to search your car is not a sign of your
innocence and will not be used that way. Instead,
it is used as just that, permission to search your car.
Offering to blow into a portable breath testing (PBT)
device is not an attempt to show your innocence and good
will, it is just the collection of evidence.
3.
Don't answer the question "Have you had anything to
drink tonight" unless the answer is "No." Once
again, back to the DUI checklist, there is a little box
that says "Suspect admits to drinking alcohol". By
answering anything other than "no" you are giving the
officer more probable cause to continue the
investigation, and less room for your attorney to
maneuver. The most common answer to this question is
"I've had one or two beers". WRONG! Note, this is
not what gets logged, its just a check next to the box
that says "suspect admits to drinking alcohol".
4. Don't smoke once you get pulled over.
No one likes getting smoke blown in their face, and you
really want this officer to like you. Furthermore,
courts have held that people use cigarettes to mask the
smells of alcohol or narcotics, so by lighting up, you
just gave the officer one more box to check in the
probable cause column. The other thing to think
about here, and in all stages of the investigation, is
that you are probably on camera. Dashboard cameras
have become the norm in jurisdictions around the country
and can help you as well as hurt you. The
anti-smoker bias is at an all-time high right now, and
do you really want the jury who will see that video of
you smoking to have one more reason to not like or trust
you? In some jurors minds, being guilty of one thing
means you are guilty of all things. Don't make
that one thing being guilty of being a smoker.
5.
Don't say more than you need to. Does "anything
you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law" sound familiar? It's not just something said
on tv, this is part of you Miranda warning. The
thing is, anything you say prior to hearing these
warnings can and will be used against you as well.
Trying to explain why your speech is slurred only leads
to more audio of your slurred speech on the video that
the jury will see. Many people try to talk their
way out of trouble, but in reality are just digging the
hole deeper for themselves.
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