Very few people actually plan to go out and get arrested for driving while intoxicated. When they do, they had better be sure they have an Indiana OWI lawyer. In the state of Indiana, OWI stands for operating while intoxicated, referring to a motor vehicle. In some states, such as Texas, motor vehicle can include a golf cart.
In the state of Indiana for the year 2008, there were 187 accidents involving alcohol. That averages out to four fatal car crashes every week as a result of somebody getting behind the wheel having had too much to drink. No matter how drunk you are, the Founding Fathers endowed you with certain rights upon being arrested. It is the job of the DWI lawyer to see that you are informed about your rights and that they don't get trampled over in the understandable zeal to get drunk drivers off the roads.
Whatever acronym your state uses to describe being over the limit, most states operate on the assumption that by being in control of a motor vehicle, you consent to a blood alcohol test. In some states, like Texas, refusing to take a blood test results in automatic loss of your driver's license.
When people are arrested for drunk driving, their emotions can be close to the surface. Some people get angry and try to pick a fight with everybody, while others will sing like a canary and admit guilt to anything. Even if you believe you are coherent, police have selective memories, and may only enter into the record the stuff you say that incriminates you and nothing you say in your own defense.
The self-incrimination usually starts long before you get a chance to shoot your mouth off and even before the lights and sirens go on. The law enforcement officers will already have noticed that you have been driving like an idiot. Maybe you have been veering from side to side, crossing into other lanes of traffic, making extra-wide turns or driving miles below the speed limit.
Once you are pulled over, there are other little "tells" that will often confirm the suspicion of the police officer. These fall into four categories: personal symptoms of insobriety (flushed face, alcohol on the breath, glassy eyes, slurred speech, etc., ) incriminating statements, chemical tests and field sobriety tests (breath tests, etc.).
It is the chemical tests that can do the most damage from a criminal defense point of view. For this reason, defense lawyers often make challenging them a prime part of their defense strategy. They will request things like the training record of the operator or the maintenance record of the piece of equipment that was used in your arrest. Another vulnerable target, believe it or not, is the source code that is used in the programming of the breath-testing equipment.
One defense tactic is to ask to see the maintenance records for the machines, as also the training records of the person who administered the test. The source code used in the breath-testing equipment has recently been shown to have vulnerabilities, so a canny lawyer may target this, as well.
In the state of Indiana for the year 2008, there were 187 accidents involving alcohol. That averages out to four fatal car crashes every week as a result of somebody getting behind the wheel having had too much to drink. No matter how drunk you are, the Founding Fathers endowed you with certain rights upon being arrested. It is the job of the DWI lawyer to see that you are informed about your rights and that they don't get trampled over in the understandable zeal to get drunk drivers off the roads.
Whatever acronym your state uses to describe being over the limit, most states operate on the assumption that by being in control of a motor vehicle, you consent to a blood alcohol test. In some states, like Texas, refusing to take a blood test results in automatic loss of your driver's license.
When people are arrested for drunk driving, their emotions can be close to the surface. Some people get angry and try to pick a fight with everybody, while others will sing like a canary and admit guilt to anything. Even if you believe you are coherent, police have selective memories, and may only enter into the record the stuff you say that incriminates you and nothing you say in your own defense.
The self-incrimination usually starts long before you get a chance to shoot your mouth off and even before the lights and sirens go on. The law enforcement officers will already have noticed that you have been driving like an idiot. Maybe you have been veering from side to side, crossing into other lanes of traffic, making extra-wide turns or driving miles below the speed limit.
Once you are pulled over, there are other little "tells" that will often confirm the suspicion of the police officer. These fall into four categories: personal symptoms of insobriety (flushed face, alcohol on the breath, glassy eyes, slurred speech, etc., ) incriminating statements, chemical tests and field sobriety tests (breath tests, etc.).
It is the chemical tests that can do the most damage from a criminal defense point of view. For this reason, defense lawyers often make challenging them a prime part of their defense strategy. They will request things like the training record of the operator or the maintenance record of the piece of equipment that was used in your arrest. Another vulnerable target, believe it or not, is the source code that is used in the programming of the breath-testing equipment.
One defense tactic is to ask to see the maintenance records for the machines, as also the training records of the person who administered the test. The source code used in the breath-testing equipment has recently been shown to have vulnerabilities, so a canny lawyer may target this, as well.
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