Alabama DUI Lawyer Blog

A Dothan police officer arrested on a DUI charge during the Memorial Day weekend has resigned, the Dothan Eagle reports.

The case highlights that DUI is a crime that anyone can commit, even an experienced police officer, who likely has arrested many people for driving drunk. And as is the case here, the charge itself cost the man his job. DUI in Alabama carries severe penalties and requires a Birmingham DUI lawyer who can fight the charges and try to protect a person's career.

In Dothan, the 40-year-old man, who was a 15-year veteran of the department, was arrested Saturday by Alabama State Troopers. According to the newspaper, he was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

According to the report, the officer was involved in an accident between Webb and Columbia, which are northeast of Dothan near the state line. According to troopers, the other party in the accident wasn't injured.

According to The Century Council, a non-profit group of distillers that aims to fight drunk driving, there were nearly 14,000 DUI arrests in 2009 in Alabama. This shows just how common the charge is and while it is a crime to drive drunk, there are many defenses.

One area of defense is in the field sobriety tests given by the responding officer. What happens in just about every suspected drunk driving incident is the officer will ask the driver to step out of the vehicle and complete a series of tests. There are only three tests that are legally recognized as being used to determine a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle.
They are:

Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus: This is when an officer observes the eyes of the suspect as he or she follows a slowly moving object, usually a pen or a small flashlight, horizontally. Nystagmus is an involuntary jerking of the eye, but when a person is impaired by alcohol, this is exaggerated.

Walk and Turn: This is one of the most recognized field sobriety tests out there. If people see a person pulled over and is walking in a straight line on the side of the road and an officer is taking notes, most people recognize it is a DUI stop. This is when the driver is told to take nine steps, heel-to-toe, along a straight line. They are then to turn on one foot and return in the opposite direction. The officer looks for problems keeping balance and other signs.

One Leg Stand: This test requires the suspect to stand with one foot about six inches off the ground and count aloud by thousands until the officer tells the person to put their foot down, usually after 30 seconds. The officer will look for swaying, using their arms to balance, hopping to maintain balance and putting the foot down early.

But the statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are telling. The agency reports that 88 percent of drivers who show four or more clues of impairment on the HGN testing have a blood-alcohol content of .08 or greater. On the walk and turn, 79 percent of drivers who show two problems hit that BAC level and 83 percent on the one-leg stand who show two or more indicators.

What this shows is that many people arrested and charged with DUI can fail these tests and still not be drunk. While it is unfortunate, many people in society believe an arrest is indicative of guilt. But not Birmingham DUI lawyers. We will fight every aspect of your case.

Continue reading "Dothan Police Officer Charged with DUI, Resigns" »

An Attalla police officer was injured recently when authorities said he was hit by a pickup on a traffic stop, The Gadsden Times reports.

Any DUI case is serious because of the stigma attached and possible penalties. But any case where an officer is injured or killed is sure to be treated with more scrutiny both by the prosecution and the public -- an aggressive DUI defense attorney in Alabama is required.

When it feels like the world is against you, you need an experienced DUI attorney who can fight for your rights and work to come up with a favorable resolution.

In Attalla, rookie officer Robert Brewster pulled over a man driving a pickup truck recently. As the officer approached the driver's side of the truck, the driver allegedly swerved off, striking the officer, police said. According to the newspaper, Brewster was released from the hospital several hours later with bruising and leg injuries.

The officer's field training officer jumped into the patrol car after checking to make sure Brewster wasn't seriously injured and later pulled over the pickup truck driver and charged him with DUI. The Alabama State Troopers are investigating the accident for possible charges.

It's unclear at this point whether the driver will face further charges, but there is no DUI case more complex than those involving injury or death. That's why you need the best advocate to stand by you every step of the way.

The penalties for DUI cases in Alabama can range from fines, fees and a driver's license suspension to serious jail or prison time. Don't go it alone; contact an experienced attorney who can assist you with DUI assault and manslaughter cases.

Continue reading "Police Officer Injured in Alabama DUI Accident Will Likely Mean Tough Penalties" »

A 46-year-old Cullman man is facing a host of criminal charges following an Alabama DUI accident that killed an 8-year-old girl and critically injured three others, including her parents, according to the Cullman Times.

Birmingham DUI defense lawyers understand the stakes are high when a defendant is charged with drunk driving in connection with a serious or fatal accident. These are always tragic cases -- certainly for the victim, but also for a remorseful defendant who faces years in prison.

Too often, when police determine (or believe they have determined) that a driver involved in a fatal accident was intoxicated, any real investigation into the cause of the crash is concluded. Consulting with an Alabama drunk driving defense lawyer experienced in handling serious or fatal accidents is critical. The earlier you contact an attorney, the sooner he or she can get started with an independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding your case. If it can be proven that you were either not intoxicated or not responsible for causing the accident, you should not be convicted of the most serious charges associated with a drunk driving crash.

In this case the defendant is charged with murder, homicide by vehicle, manslaughter, two counts of first degree assault and two counts of third degree assault. He was charged with driving under the influence shortly after the Dec. 17 crash. Some of these charges are "in the alternative," meaning the prosecutor is seeking conviction on the most serious possible charge (murder) but has also charged homicide and manslaughter as lesser included offenses.

Certainly there will be little sympathy for the defendant in this case. In general, prosecutors love to show how tough on crime they are when it comes to convicting defendants involved in fatal drunk driving crashes -- judges are too happy to comply with harsh prison sentences. Everybody loses. In cases where a victim is particularly sympathetic -- as when a child or member of law enforcement is killed -- there is typically even less room for negotiating.

In many of these cases, building a case for trial is in the defendant's best interest.

Police say the defendant struck a vehicle that had exited Interstate 65 and was traveling down U.S. Highway 31. The victim's vehicle overturned. The 8-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene and the girl's parents were seriously injured. The parents have also filed a civil lawsuit against the defendant.

Continue reading "Fatal Drunk Driving Accident in Cullman charged as Homicide" »