User:Mbialys/sandbox

As a California's premier DUI Defense attorney, THE DUI MAN I'm often asked,"what should I do?"

The first question is, what do I tell the officer if he asks me if you've been drinking? Great Question! We all know that giving false information to a peace officer, is illegal but at the same time we also know that we are not compelled to incriminate ourselves under the 5th Amendment. Therein in-lies the dilemma. What to do? Well there are a few approaches. Number one, you can respectfully decline to answer. Practically speaking, this will alert the investigator/officer to the fact that you probably have been drinking, however it will not provide him with concrete evidence as to how much or how long it has been since you drank. The officer will push for the information, and likely continue to investigate, but again you are not providing any actual evidence that can be used against you at a later time. The other option is a more evasive step. When the officer asks you if you had anything to drink, you can simply answer, "coffee or water." Assuming that at some point earlier in the evening you actually had coffee or water, you are not providing false information and your are not incriminating yourself. The point being that you ARE NOT required to offer any incriminating information in response to an officers questioning.

It is almost certain, however that the investigation will continue, especially if the officer, smells alcohol on your breath or body or if in his opinion you appear to be intoxicated. The officer will likely ask you to step out of the vehicle and request that you perform some additional Filed Sobriety Tests, often referred to as FST's. [|Filed Sobriety Testing]. In California you are not required to submit to any Field Sobriety Tests. The Bottom line here is once again you may and should respectfully decline. From here is likely that you will be asked to take a PAS or preliminary alcohol screening test. [|Breath Test] Once again you are legally allowed to refuse this test as well.

Let us recap. Up until this point, you are well within your rights and should not have provided any drinking information, Field Sobriety tests, or Breath tests. This will likely lead a very frustrated officer and likely cause him or her to place you under arrest. He or she will claim that they have a reasonable belief that you are DUI and the once arrested you must submit to or provide a valid breath or blood test. In this regard the officer is correct. Once arrested YOU MUST PROVIDE a valid breath or blood sample for testing. Failure to do so at this point will result in harsher consequences, including but not limited to losing your drivers' licence for at least one year. This is the point, the only point, that you should to submit to a valid chemical, blood or breath test!

The question often comes up, why turn everything else down if I eventually have to provide this test anyway. The answer is simple. Would you rather be arrested with evidence or without it. Without drinking information or FST information that arrest may not be legal as their may not be actual evidence to create enough probable cause [|Probable Cause] for your arrest. In essence the legality of the arrest can be challenged. Additionally, remember that time in this situation can be your friend. Assuming you are metabolizing the alcohol consumed, every minute that passes is another minute on the clock where you body is eliminating the alcohol. [|Blood Alcohol Content-BAC] By the time you get to the station to test Your Blood Alcohol Content your BAC could be substantially lower than it was at the point of being stopped by the vehicle. This again affords you and your attorney a fighting chance to challenge the DUI allegation.

These are just a few of the Do's and Don't of DUI stop and investigation in California, brought to you by California's own DUI Man, Attorney Michael Bialys. Michael Bialys THE DUI MAN