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Bellingham DUI Lawyers

1. Lustick Law Firm: DUI and Criminal Traffic Offenses * Drug Distribution and Possession Cases * Domestic Violence Cases * Assault and Disorderly Conduct * Theft, Burglary, or Robbery Charges * Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation * Child Support Orders * Civil Litigation Matters
2. Tasker, Michael: DUI, criminal law and personal injury cases
3. Fox Bowman Duarte: How much did you have to drink? How much you had to drink and what you drank is a critical question in any DUI case. From the outset, it is important to determine whether the amount of alcohol you had to drink was sufficient to get a reading above the legal limit or to affect your ability to drive. For example, a single drink is usually not enough to get your alcohol concentration above the legal limit, but it might be sufficient to get you arrested for DUI if a police officer thinks it affects your ability to drive to any appreciable degree. In our years of defending DUI cases, the attorneys at FBD have seen DUI charges filed with BAC results as low as .02%. At the same time, depending on your weight and size, two to three drinks may be enough to get your alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit. Generally speaking, a thin lightweight individual takes fewer drinks to exceed the legal limit than does a heavy person. Your alcohol concentration is generally determined by the amount of alcohol consumed, your body size, gender, and time. At FBD we use a reliable scientific method called "Widmark's Formula" to determine whether the amount you had to drink was in fact enough to produce a reading over the "legal limit." To be reasonably accurate, the period of consumption, rate of consumption, and type of liquor consumed must be known along with other critical facts such as body weight. This evidence is scientific and is admissible in court to cast doubt upon the results of the breath test machine. The Washington State Liquor Control Board has published blood alcohol concentration (BAC) charts for men and women that is the Liquor Board's best estimate as to what the alcohol level would be for a given amount of drinking. The chart should be used only as a guide because there are too many variables bearing on an individual's true breath alcohol concentration. Below is a chart of the signs of alcohol consumption and the degree of intoxication based on blood alcohol concentrations. This chart reflects the testimony of experts used by prosecutors and shows that determining where "legal intoxication" begins is an inexact science, at best. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC level) Stage of Alcoholic Influence 0.01 - 0.05 Sobriety # No apparent influence # Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation # Slight changes detectable by special tests 0.03 - 0.12 Euphoria # Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness # Increased self-confidence, decreased inhibitions # Diminution of attention, judgment, and control # Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests 0.09 - 0.25 Excitement # Emotionalinstability, decreased inhibitions # Loss of critical judgment # Impairment of memory and comprehension # Decreased sensatory response, increased reaction time # Some muscular incoordination 0.18 - 0.30 Confusion # Disorientation, mental confusion, dizziness # Exaggerated emotional state, such as fear and anger # Disturbance of sensation (diplopia, etc.) and of perception of color, form, motion dimensions # Decreased pain sense # Impaired balance, muscular incoordination, stagerring gait, slurred speech 0.27 - 0.40 Stupor # Apathy, general inertia, approaching paralysis # Markedly decreased response to stimuli # Marked muscular incoordination, inability to stand or walk # Vomiting, incontinence of urine and feces # Impaired consciousness, sleep or stupor 0.35 - 0.50 Coma # Complete unconsciousness, coma, anesthesia # Depressed or abolished reflexes # Subnormal temperature # Incontinence of urine and feces # Embarrassment of circulation and respiration # Possible death 0.45 + Death # Death from respiratory paralysis
4. Michael P. Brodsky: A jury array is a list of jurors who are summoned to appear for jury duty. Jurors for a particular trial are selected from the jury array. A defendant is entitled to challenge the jury array. The defendant usually discovers flaws in the jury selection process during voir dire or questioning of the jurors. Grounds for challenging the jury array include corrupt summoning of the jurors, violation of the jury law, discriminatory selection of the jurors, or discrimination regarding exemptions for the jurors.
5. Nelson, Brinson, Thigpen & Fryer:

   Your Rights

      If you are arrested by a peace officer of the United States, the law requires that you be advised of your rights (often called the "Miranda Rights").  These are:

   1. You have the right to remain silent.

   The Court: "At the outset, if a person in custody is to be subjected to interrogation, he must first be informed in clear and unequivocal terms that he has the right to remain silent."

   2. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.

   The Court: "The warning of the right to remain silent must be accompanied by the explanation that anything said can and will be used against the individual in court."

   3. You have the right to have an attorney present now and during any future questioning.

   The Court: "...the right to have counsel present at the interrogation is indispensable to the protection of the Fifth Amendment privilege under the system we delineate today. ... [Accordingly] we hold that an individual held for interrogation must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation under the system for protecting the privilege we delineate today."

   4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you free of charge if you wish.

   The Court: "In order fully to apprise a person interrogated of the extent of his rights under this system then, it is necessary to warn him not only that he has the right to consult with an attorney, but also that if he is indigent a lawyer will be appointed to represent him. Without this additional warning, the admonition of the right to consult with counsel would often be understood as meaning only that he can consult with a lawyer if he has one or has the funds to obtain one.

   The Court continues by declaring what the police must do if the person being interrogated indicates that he or she does want a lawyer...

   "If the individual states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present. At that time, the individual must have an opportunity to confer with the attorney and to have him present during any subsequent questioning. If the individual cannot obtain an attorney and he indicates that he wants one before speaking to police, they must respect his decision to remain silent."

   But -- You can be arrested without being read your Miranda Rights

   The Miranda rights do not protect you from being arrested, only from incriminating yourself during questioning. All police need to legally arrest a person is "probable cause" -- an adequate reason based on facts and events to believe the person has committed a crime.

   Police are required to "Read him his (Miranda) rights," only before interrogating a suspect. While failure to do so may cause any subsequent statements to be thrown out of court, the arrest may still be legal and valid.

   Also without reading the Miranda rights, police are allowed to ask routine questions like name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number necessary to establishing a person's identity. Police can also administer alcohol and drug tests without warning, but persons being tested may refuse to answer questions during the tests.

6. Deborah Frederick: First of all, when you see the flashing lights behind your car, pull over, and secure your car. The officer is looking for everything from how straight you parked the car when you pulled over to whether you used your turn signal or not. Be polite. If the officer suspects you have been drinking before driving, and are under the influence, he or she may ask you to step from your vehicle.
7. Stephen Kozer: DWI/DUI cases can also result in jail time , the loss of your privilege to drive, expensive fines. The legal limit in the State of Washington is .08 BAC ( breath alcohol concentration). Even if your breath test is less than a .08 you can be charged with DWI/DUI! The DWI/DUI statute gives the prosecutor the choice of proceeding in three different ways against you . A BAC of .08 or greater or appreciably affected by alcohol or appreciably affected by alcohol and or drugs.( even prescription drugs).
8. Robert Butler: DUI's can and should be viewed as more serious offenses than many of the common class C felonies. By way of example, a person with two prior DUIs who blows less than .15, will receive a mandatory minimum jail time of 90 days AND 120 days of electronic home monitoring (ehm), mandatory ignition interlock device on your vehicle for not less than a year, plus three years license suspension/revocation (criminal side sentencing is separate from the administrative DOL suspension) plus probation to monitor compliance with alcohol evaluation. If you refuse to blow or blow greater than .15 the penalty jumps to 120 days jail, 150 days of ehm, higher fines and four years of license suspension. Comparing DUI to possession of stolen property, a second time offender on a stolen possession charge would only be looking at the maximum of 90 days with the range being 0-90 days and with no mandatory minimum days required.