DUI Dismissed. How To Make It Happen?

The main factor that comes into play in DUI dismissal cases is whether the criminal procedure laws applicable to the particular situation were adhered to. Common scenarios where the DUI may be dismissed include the following:

* Failure to follow criminal procedure resulted in a violation of the defendant's criminal rights

* The defendant did not receive a reading of his or her "Miranda" rights when arrested

* Blood and alcohol tests were obtained improperly and must be thrown out as dismissed evidence

The first thing to do is obtain a qualified lawyer, specializing in DUI or DWI's.

Then request a hearing with the DMV. In most states if you don't do this, your license will automatically be suspended, there is a deadline to do this, the deadline varies from state to state but can be as little as 10days. If you do this by registered letter or by fax it proves that you sent the request by the correct date. This way you can continue driving until your DMV hearing which can be months away.

In a DUI court case the prosecution bears the burden of proof, which means that the prosecutor must prove your guilt beyond a shadow of doubt. They will rely on these four things to try to do this; your driving pattern, your Field Sobriety Test performance, your physical appearance, and the chemical test results. If any one of these four cornerstones are brought into doubt the driver should be acquitted.

The driving pattern reported can typically be one sided or incomplete, the officer may only write down the things a driver did incorrectly. A good DUI lawyer can rebut this part of the prosecutors case by pointing out what the driver was doing correctly.

Field Sobriety Tests can also be challenged by a skilled lawyer, juries can be made to understand that a drivers ability to do these exercises can be difficult when you're nervous and an armed police officer on the side of the road in the middle of the night can be a bit nerve-racking.

Your physical appearance is also deceptive, for example red, watering eyes can be from allergies, from being around cigarette smoke or from being tired.

Don't be discouraged; even if you've failed the breathalyzer test, there are issues that a qualified lawyer can and will investigated. Calibration records, maintenance history, and accuracy checks of the machine that's used to test you can be sent for by your lawyer, if there is any problem it can get your test results thrown out. If a blood test was done then the lawyer can send for a "split" test to send for independent testing. If the blood sample doesn't meet specific requirements in preservation or if there isn't an adequate level of the preservative or anti-coagulant the blood may no longer be testable and that would also result in having the test results thrown out.

Motions are another tool to DUI defense lawyers have at their disposal. The right legal motions are essential to either a breakdown to reckless driving (the second best outcome in a DUI case), or complete dismissal of the case. DUI motions are not boilerplate, but are born of legal knowledge and creativity. Every DUI case has legal issues. It doesn't matter if a dozen officers pulled you over, you failed the roadside tests, and submitted to a breath test. There are legal issues, from how and why the officer stopped you, to whether you were appropriately read your Miranda rights. A good DUI attorney will know what to look for, and will file the relevant motions.

With these DUI motions, the Court will assess the legality of the stop, the breath test, the refusal...whatever. If the Court finds that the accused's constitutional rights were violated, the Court may order a vital piece of the State's case suppressed (excluded). This may be the breath test results, the refusal, or even the results of the roadside tests (field sobriety exercises). In that situation, the State may be forced to offer a breakdown to reckless driving, or even dismiss the case. If the Court finds that the traffic stop was unlawful, the Court will dismiss the DUI.