Whether or not you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs when you were pulled over, if you fail a field sobriety test, you can be fairly confident you’ll be arrested and charged with OUI. Here’s how you can fight against field sobriety failures and what to do to get help navigating the complicated Massachusetts legal system.
Provide Other Reasons for a Failed Field Sobriety Test
The majority of people who take a field sobriety test fail, whether they are intoxicated or not. For example, medical conditions that impact your ability to walk in a straight line or affect your speech may be misconstrued as indications that you’re impaired. However, this is often not the case.
Point Out Mistakes Made By the Police Officer During the Administration of the Tests
Law enforcement officers are trained to administer field sobriety tests a certain way to ensure the standardization of the tests and the consistency of results. When an officer fails to follow protocol for administering a field sobriety test, you may be able to petition the court to dismiss your case or at the very least, make the field sobriety test results inadmissible.
Challenge the Officer’s Reason for Initially Pulling You Over
In some cases, a more effective strategy is to challenge the police officer’s reasoning for pulling you over in the first place. You must have been committing a crime, or acting in a way that caused the officer to reasonably suspect that you had committed a crime, to be legally pulled over. This is known as probable cause.
If the police officers who arrested you for operating under the influence did not have probable cause, you may be able to successfully argue that your OUI case should be dismissed on this basis.
Reach Out to Zealous OUI Attorneys Today for Assistance
It’s important that you don’t wait after getting arrested for OUI to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer. Your rights and future are on the line, and you can’t afford mistakes. Any delays could cause your case to become weakened, or give the prosecution more time to come up with evidence against you that is harder to refute. You need to act quickly.
Call our office today for a consultation to discuss potential defense strategies at 413.737.9700 (Springfield), 413.585.9200 (Northampton), or 413.549.0022 (Amherst). Our team is standing by to help you navigate your criminal case.
