Brought to you by Colorado DUI Drunk Driving Defense

Keizer DUI Lawyers

1. Eggert & Heslinga: If youÕve been arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, also known as DUII, your life has just been turned upside down. You were stopped by police, coerced into doing some ÒtestsÓ at the side of the road, arrested and handcuffed, taken to jail, read a bunch of legal-sounding mumbo jumbo, and told to blow into a tube in the side of a magic box. If the box said Ò0.08Ó or more, you were told your driverÕs license is going to be suspended for at least 90 days and given a date to go to court where you could wind up spending a year in jail. Talk about a life-changing event! First of all, the fact you were accused of being DUII does not make you a bad person. DUII is one of the most-frequently committed crimes in the country. The legal standard in Oregon, and most other states, is 0.08% alcohol by weight in the blood. This is a pretty easy number to reach, and in some people can come after just one or two drinks in a short time. Most people cannot tell how high their blood alcohol is before they start driving. The warning signs are there, but the pressure to get home or the elation at how much fun the evening has been makes for bad choices. Then there are drug DUIIs. There is no magic number for a drug DUII like there is for an alcohol DUII. Many drugs, both legal and illegal to possess, can cause the userÕs physical and mental faculties to be impaired. It is this impairment than can make a person DUII. Most DUIIs involve Òbad drivingÓ, such as weaving, inability to maintain a steady speed, driving too slow or too fast, or getting into an accident. Others are noticed by police during a ÒroutineÓ traffic stop, such as for a broken headlight, and the police officer notices something during his contact with the driver that makes him suspicious. The criticism of the DUII legal process starts at the moment of contact between a driver and police. One Oregon State Trooper was famous for usually reporting that he smelled a Òstrong odor of ETOHÓ Ð alcohol, which in its chemical state is odorless. The roadside tests that police have drivers perform are fraught with errors; they are not nearly as scientific as drivers are supposed to believe. And then thereÕs the Òmagic boxÓ, or Intoxilyzer 8000, which is so scientifically sound and reliable that we mere mortals are prohibited by law from examining the machineÕs inner workings and computer code. (Can you sense the irony?) The main thing with a DUII is that you need to get an attorney involved right away. If you hire an attorney within ten days of your arrest, the attorney can help you get a DMV hearing scheduled. The DMV hearing is use-it-or-lose-it; if you donÕt ask for it within ten days of arrest, you can never get it. This is an important hearing. The hearings officer can decide that something was wrong with the process the police officer used, and let you keep your license. In any case, your attorney gets to question the police officer and find out early on the strengths and weaknesses in the criminal case. Other things an attorney can help you with involve determining whether you are eligible for diversion, and whether your case should go to trial or be settled with a guilty or no contest plea. In any event, the substantial penalties involved in a DUII and the complexity of the process mean that you need professional help from an attorney to get this right with a minimum of impairment of your life!