Birmingham DUI
DUI Attorneys - Lakeman & Peagler, LLC
The Birmingham DUI lawyers at Lakeman & Peagler, L.L.C. provide information about how prosecutors will build a case against you in your Birmingham DUI case and how DUI defense attorneys can help to minimize or avoid some of the penalties associated with drunken driving arrests.
A DUI conviction in Alabama can lead to serious consequences both now and in the future. Besides fines, jail time, and suspension of your driving privileges, a DUI offense can affect your credit score, can lead to increased insurance premiums, and even cause you to lose your job.
In Alabama, you can be charged with DUI for two different reasons. The first reason is based on Alabama’s per se laws that say you can be arrested for driving while impaired. Substances that may cause impairment include alcohol, marijuana and other illegal drugs, prescription medications, and substances such as paints, glues or industrial chemicals. If you are physically or mentally impaired for any reason, you should not be driving in Alabama, and if caught, you could be charged with DUI.
The second reason that you may be charged with DUI in Birmingham is for a blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, which is over the legal limit. The limit in Alabama is .08% and if your blood alcohol concentration is higher than this level, you are considered to be intoxicated by law.
In a DUI case in Alabama, prosecutors will attempt to prove that you were either impaired or intoxicated. The types of evidence they may use would likely include the police officer’s observations of your demeanor, behavior, and driving abilities and the results of any testing that may have been performed. DUI stops are often video taped and may contribute evidence of impairment. Prosecutors may also provide evidence from field sobriety tests that were performed to aide in substantiating their claims that you were impaired or intoxicated.
A qualified Birmingham DUI attorney will investigate the circumstances of the initial DUI stop and explore possible mistakes in protocol. If there was anything illegal about the DUI stop, than it may be possible to throw out any evidence that was collected. Additionally, police must have a reasonable cause for requesting field sobriety tests and proper procedure must be followed when administering them.
Chemical BAC evidence provides prosecutors with physical proof of intoxication. In a DUI defense in Birmingham, a DUI lawyer may dispute this evidence by discrediting the training or experience of the person who administered the test, the methods used the overall accuracy of the test, and the condition of the equipment and the subsequent results.
Many people believe that once they have been arrested on drunk driving charges, there is nothing that can be done and therefore plead guilty. In fact, an experienced DUI attorney in Birmingham may defend your case by employing various legal and technical principles and it is possible to lessen the penalties associated with DUI or avoid conviction altogether.
