Alabama DUI Lawyer Blog

Take a recent "Police Report" on AL.com and look at what proof of a crime there is.

This online article lists the names, ages, and cities where 15 people live who were recently arrested and charged with DUI. It doesn't even show any facts of what happened, why they were stopped, why the officer pulled the driver over or any proof they are guilty.

Yet, there they are, plastered for anyone on the World Wide Web to see, as if they're guilty of DUI in Tuscaloosa, or anywhere else. This is only one side of the story. Our experienced DUI Defense Attorneys in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham know that fighting these charges is the one way to really clear your name after you've been arrested.

Sadly, the newspapers have shrunk in size year after year because of lower profits and the rise of the blogger. And with less staff to do a quality job, they rely on these cheap reports written by interns, most likely, to get people to read the "news" they put on these websites.

This includes these "police reports," which take the police department or sheriff's office's word for it and publishes the names of those who were arrested. Sadly, even if the charges are dropped two days later, the names can stay up there for months or years to come. Of course there are no subsequent articles detailing the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges.

But the only true way for a person to clear their name is by fighting a DUI charge. That requires an aggressive DUI defense, which first off includes attacking the police officer's observations and actions. Law enforcement officers must be very careful when they conduct a DUI investigation because there are certain steps they must take and if they don't it could result in charges being dropped.

First of all, why they decided to stop the vehicle is the first thing that should be looked at by the defense. They must have a valid reason for stopping the vehicle in the first place, whether it's for swerving in and out of lanes, running a stop sign or red light or sudden stopping and starting.

Sometimes, officers don't have a reason for the stop and everything that happens after that point must be thrown out, however damaging the evidence. A driver has a Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to illegal search and seizure, which includes a person being investigated for DUI.

Follow that up with the police officer's observations when conducting field sobriety tests in Tuscaloosa. This includes walking and turning, following an object from side-to-side while having a flashlight shone in your face and standing on one leg. While officers may say that a person blatantly failed these tests, certain medications, health effects and wet roads or windy weather conditions can all have an effect on these tests.

When an officer pulls someone over, though, they are set on proving the person is guilty of DUI, so it can almost be an uphill battle not to get arrested for DUI once you've been pulled over. Even by explaining that an outside factor other than drug and alcohol abuse is causing a poor performance on a field sobriety test, an officer may choose not to buy it and make the arrest anyway.

Eye witness accounts, including a vehicle passenger or those outside a vehicle, as well as the cop's video surveillance device from their cruiser, can all go to helping a defendant who is charged with DUI. These cases take a lot of work and require an attorney who has the experience to help restore your good name.

Continue reading " Expect Public Humiliation If You Get a DUI in Montgomery " »

The Cullman Times reports that Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded nearly $230,000 in grants to fight DUI and other driver-related crimes.

This is just another example of the government stepping in and trying to punish drivers for a crime that is both unsophisticated and, in a vast majority of the cases, harmful to no one. But, as is the case, politicians like to show that they are "tough on crime" by enforcing steeper penalties against DUI in Auburn and elsewhere in Alabama.

That's all the more reason to hire an aggressive and experienced Birmingham DUI Attorney to fight the charges of DUI. As there is more and more attention given to DUI in the news media and by the government, including new law changes that have just gone into effect for DUI convictions, getting an aggressive defense is the only true option.

The three grants totaling $228,968 are aimed at ensuring motorists who are convicted will be punished more than they already are. Two state agencies and a non-profit group will benefit from the Governor's generosity.

A grant of $165,942 was awarded to the Office of Prosecution Services to be used in training district attorneys and their staff to make sure they are up-to-date on the current law. Another $34,551 goes to the Alabama Department of Public Safety to deal with a backlog of drivers' license suspension cases. The money will go toward hiring special prosecutors to avoid delays in suspension appeals. Finally, the well-connected Mothers Against Drunk Driving gets $28,475 to put together awareness campaigns about DUI and to support victims of drunk driving crashes.

Never mind the fact the drunk driving accident nationwide are at record lows.

This cash splurge by the Governor comes as a new law regarding DUI just went into effect Sept. 1. As NBC News reports, the new law states that a first-time offender can face double the fine and a year in jail, along with possibly having to install an ignition interlock device on their vehicle.

As the Alabama DUI Lawyer Blog reported in June, Alabama became the 50th state in the country to enact an ignition interlock device law for DUI convictions. Even for first-time offenders, they can be saddled with the cost and inconvenience of these expensive devices.

An ignition interlock device is like a breathalyzer, but for a vehicle. It is installed -- with an installation charge, plus monthly charges, and requires the driver to blow into it in order to start the vehicle. Sometimes, it can turn the vehicle off and require another blow to make sure the driver hasn't had anything to drink in between stops.

This is yet another attempt for Alabama lawmakers to show voters they are "tough on crime" as people head to the polls for the November election. Yet these penalties will only make things more difficult for people already struggling with the tough economy. But to try to avoid these penalties, hire an experienced Opelika DUI Defense Attorney, who can fight all aspects of the case, including the police officers' observations, eye witnesses, breath tests, field sobriety tests and even the initial reason for the traffic stop in defense of the accused.

Continue reading " Alabama Governor Awards $230,000 in Grants To Target DUI Drivers " »

A Navy commander from Birmingham was recently charged with DUI in Albany, N.Y. and he has been fired, the Navy Times is reporting.

It's sad that the U.S. Navy would fire an experienced and valuable naval officer after an arrest, when he hasn't even been convicted. But many companies and public offices are the same way. People trust in police to be right and so they think that an arrest means the person is guilty. But that's simply not the case.

DUI in Birmingham is a complex case and goes far beyond simply being pulled over. There are many different factors that go into DUI defense and an experienced Birmingham DUI Defense Attorney is able to bring up those points and successfully defend a client in many instances.

In the case of the 30-year Navy veteran, he was arrested August. 20 in Albany. The Navy said in a press release that he was fired because of a "loss of confidence in his ability to command." The Birmingham native enlisted in the Navy in 1981 and was a chief petty officer before he earned his commission as a limited duty officer in 1992.

The Navy released no other details about his arrest, other than he was cited by the Albany Police Department for driving under the influence.

What's sad about the situation is that his bosses have jumped to a conclusion with little proof. Being arrested for DUI doesn't mean the end of the world. It simply means the officer had an opinion based on observations that you may be drunk.

Even if a person is given a field sobriety test and "fails," according to the officer, those results can be refuted. If a person has balance problems that a doctor can testify to, that can explain why they didn't do well on the walk and turn and one-leg stand tests. If they have eye problems, having a bright flashlight right in their eyes while watching something go from side to side may not be possible.

The weather and road conditions can also explain why someone may fail a field sobriety test. Having to walk in wet or unstable gravel can be difficult and can cause someone to slip. If the officer isn't paying attention as well as he or she should, details about loose gravel could be missed, leading the officer to deem the person as failing the test, when it's not their fault.

The weather is also a factor. If the roads are wet, it can be difficult to walk on them anyway, especially if a driver is wearing heels or shoes with slick bottoms. So, a person can slip and the officer can use that as an excuse to cite them for DUI.

But the officer's dash video can actually help a defendant in this situation. In most police cruisers, when the lights are activated, the video on the dashboard starts automatically recording. If a person is pulled over, the lights usually stay on so that other drivers slow down and get out of the way. But the video can be used to refute what the officer's observations were, especially if there are witnesses in the vehicle with the driver who can also dispute what the officer says.

Continue reading " Navy Commander From Birmingham Fired After DUI Arrest in New York " »