Los Angeles DUI Checkpoints in the City
A DUI charge is a serious offense that needs an experienced attorney when it is time for a defense. A Los Angeles DUI lawyer understands the ins and outs of California DUI laws and the many intricacies involved that can prove or undo a case a prosecutor has against you. When preparing your defense, he goes back to the beginning of how the charge came about and what went on with the officer who stopped you. Often, this took place at a DUI checkpoint set up by the police, a very common practice across the country.
When a Los Angeles DUI attorney begins investigating a case where a DUI checkpoint was used, he will look to see if you were stopped and detained in a constitutional manner. In 1990, the United States Supreme Court that roadblocks and checkpoints were indeed constitutional and did violate the fourth amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. However, the court also left it up to interpretation by the states on what the reasonable guidelines should be when stopping someone at a DUI checkpoint. Therefore, a DUI attorney in Los Angeles will question you thoroughly on what happened when you were stopped that led to the DUI charge.
If procedures at the DUI checkpoint did not seem to followed in a constitutional manner, then a good attorney can build a case around that and either help lessen the charges against you, help ensure that you face a minimum fine and sentence of possibly get the charges thrown out altogether. Any field sobriety test that was performed needed to be done according to procedure, as well as any breathalyzer test given at the scene. Any wrong move found on the part of the police can be ground for a case being dismissed.
Whether this is your first time DUI offense or not, if you are convicted, you can face jail time, a license suspension and hefty fines. Making sure your defense is both accurate and thorough by using an attorney that knows the laws and understands how DUI cases work in court is of the utmost importance. If you were indeed intoxicated, then you know you made a grave error getting behind the wheel that night, but you also do not want it to destroy the rest of your life. If you are facing these types of charges, call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles today.
