Exploring The Legal Process

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), the details of your arrest may help you with your defense. Since human memory is unreliable, you need to write the details of your arrest as soon as possible. Below are some of the details you should write.

Location of Shop

You should record where you were driving when the police stopped you on suspicion of DUI. The location is important in more ways than one. For one, if the police stopped you just outside a bar, you can use the rising blood alcohol content later in your defense. If the place was hilly, foggy, or crowded, you might use invisibility to claim a lack of probable cause. Maybe the police couldn't have noticed the car damage they later cited as probable cause.

Your Actions and Words

You also need to record what you were doing just before the stop, during the stop, and after your arrest. Include also what you said to the arresting officer. This can help you to defend resisting arrest charges. It can also help you remember whether you incriminated yourself during the stop. Your DUI attorney will know how to use the details during your defense.

Drinking Details

Since a DUI charge is all about intoxication, you also need to record as many details as possible about your drinking. Write where you were drinking, which alcohol you were drinking, and how much alcohol you took before getting behind the wheel. Again, this information has several uses. For example, it can help you determine the accuracy of the DUI tests. For example, abnormally high blood alcohol content after a sip of alcohol may point to testing error.  

Officer Actions and Words

You also need to record the officer's actions and words during the stop and subsequent arrest. Did the officer read your Miranda rights? Was the officer racist in their words or actions? Did the officer refuse to let you go despite claiming that you were not under arrest? All these will be relevant during your defense.

DUI Tests

Lastly, you should also record the DUI tests you took and their results. The breathalyzer test, the field sobriety tests, and any other test you might have taken will be relevant.

Write down as many things as you can remember even if you are not sure of their relevance. Furnish your criminal defense lawyer with the notes; the attorney will know how to make use of them during the defense. Contact local criminal defense lawyers to learn more about what to do after a DUI arrest.