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What to do if you are Pulled over for a DUI
Five Things Not To Do - learn your rights!
If you are pulled over or arrested for DUI in San Diego, California, there are particular actions that can greatly harm your chances of a successful case outcome. We have listed these below to give you a better understanding of drunk driving charges and what you can do to positively influence your case, rather than hinder your chances of avoiding a conviction and driver's license suspension.
- 1) Do not be impolite, loud or at all aggressive toward the police officer. Law enforcement has pulled you over because he or she may have witnessed you making an illegal traffic maneuver - do not assume they suspect that you may have been driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. The worst thing you can do is behave as though you are intoxicated, or gloat the officer into making an immediate arrest. At times, if you are polite, courteous, and calm the officer may decide not to make an arrest.
- 2) If you are pulled over for a DUI - do not resist arrest! In California, resisting arrest is actually a criminal offense, and if you try to run away or fight the officer in order to avoid being arrested, this can mean that you will face additional criminal charges for both DUI and resisting arrest.
- 3) Do not discuss the circumstances of your offense with law enforcement, before or after your arrest. If the arresting officer asks you how much you have had to drink, where you were or where you are going, you have the right to refuse to answer these questions. By politely declining to answer, you can limit the amount of information law enforcement has regarding your case. This can benefit your case, as the prosecution will also have less information to go on.
- 4) Do not agree to submit to field sobriety tests. You do not have to submit to field sobriety testing and should face no enhanced penalties or administrative license suspension for a refusal of this kind. Politely refusing to submit to field sobriety testing can serve to limit evidence law enforcement has against you in your San Diego DUI case.
- 5) Do not hesitate to contact an attorney! After a DUI arrest in California, you have only 10 calendar days to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles and schedule a DMV hearing regarding the suspension of your license. By contacting an attorney immediately, you can help your chances of a successful outcome for your DMV hearing, as well as your criminal case. Your constitutional rights may be in jeopardy from the moment you are pulled over and then arrested, and as such it is important to involve a San Diego DUI attorney as soon as possible.