Posts Tagged ‘dui lawyer’

An Experienced Ohio DUI Attorney Can Make A Difference In Your DUI Case

November 9th, 2010

You will to go through two completely different procedures if you happen to be arrested and charged for DUI or Driving Under the Influence in Ohio. One, is a criminal proceeding for your offense that you have to deal in a court setting. And the other is a civil proceeding as to whether or not you keep your driving license which is done in the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles.

It is necessary to hire from the most Ohio DUI Attorneys to help you walk all through the right steps to attempt to eliminate any serious results in your DUI case. DUI attorneys represent individuals that have been charged of using drugs or drinking alcohol in excess of the amounts set by the Ohio laws while driving a car. As the attorney of the person being charged or arrested with the offense, the Ohio DUI attorney can handle all parts of the case.

DUI or Driving under the influence is a serious crime and not just an painless matter as many see it. As a matter of fact, DUI defense has advanced into a particularly focused and specialized discipline in Ohio and across the country. It is imperative to make sure that you are knowledgeable not only which attorney you are hiring for your serious case, but what other types of cases that attorney is and had been involved in.

An excellent Ohio DUI attorney will discuss with his or her clients and make facts on the possible situations if that person is convicted – cancelled or suspended driver’s license, fees, fines and time. Usually, skilled Ohio DUI attorneys challenge the arrest, make a shot to influence the court to lower the charges and also try to decrease the sentence against the defendant. At times DUI attorney will argue whether the authorities was within his constitutional rights to stop the car. DUI attorney can question whether the testing was appropriate and exact.

The Ohio DUI attorney will explicate and put in plain words legal issues and make certain that his or her client realize what is happening and will happen in the days or months to come.

If you are facing a Ohio DUI case and you feel like you need to hire a good Ohio DUI Attorney, the Law Office of Brian Jones can offer you the services you needed. For more details, visit this site — http://www.thelawofficeofbrianjones.com.


DUI Detection Phases Explained By A DUI Attorney

October 15th, 2010

Everyone has heard the story, or stories, about someone being pulled over for an alleged broken tail light, only to be charged with DWI. But believe it or not, police officers are not out to pull everyone over and charge them with DWI. In fact, they are trained to figure out when it is more likely that someone is driving while intoxicated.

For ease of reading, I will use the term DWI througout this article. But I could easily use DUI, or OUI, or OWI, all of which can mean similar things in different states. But generally police officers divide their DWI detection strategy into three phases, vehicle in motion, personal contact, and pre-arrest screening.

Phase 1: Motion.

In phase 1, the police officer is trying to answer the question of whether to stop the vehicle. It begins with the initial observation of the vehicle and the manner in which it is being driven.

Phase 2: Contact.

In phase 2, the police officer is trying to answer the question of whether to ask the driver to exit the vehicle. It begins with the initial contact with the driver and the observations of the police officer. During the personal contact phase, there is an opportunity for the officer to observe and speak with the driver.

Phase 3: Screening.

Phase 3 generally consists of the field sobriety tests. The officer wants to determine whether there is probable cause to arrest the driver for DWI. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recognizes three standardized field sobriety tests – horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk and turn, and one leg stand. Officers will often take this one step further and give a preliminary breath test or non-standardized field sobriety tests.

During all three phases, the police officer looks for certain clues or acts that help demonstrate an increased likelihood that the driver is impaired by alcohol. The officer is further trained to include each one of these observed clues in notes and/or a police report.

So what should be done with this information? Well, knowing about the three phases of DWI detection are the cornerstone of assembling the best DWI defense possible.

I am not your attorney and you are not my client. This is not legal advice; it is merely information. If you need legal advice, then consult with an attorney for your specific situation. If you need a DUI attorney in DC or Virginia, contact a DC DUI lawyer or Virginia DUI attorney without delay.


How A DUI Attorney Uses Logic To Show That Field Sobriety Tests Are Inherently Unreliable

September 22nd, 2010

Field sobriety tests supposedly help measure whether a driver of a vehicle is too impaired by alcohol or drugs to properly perform the multitasking required to drive a vehicle. In other words, they are meant to prove that the driver is either driving under the influence or not.

What is logic? It is the study of the principles that form the basis of correct reasoning. Many logicians distinguish betweeh the principles that form the basis of correct reasoning and the psychology that governs correct reasoning. The ideas are similar, however, in that they both provide measurement for the validity of certain arguments. In plain English, logic is the determination of whether certain conclusions can be drawn from varoius assumptions. Logic becomes obsolete when the various assumptions are incorrect. We can illustrate this problem through the use of field sobriety tests.

Premise: If you are drunk, then you are uncoordinated.

Field sobriety tests, and the guilty verdicts that follow them, are based on this faulty premise. It assumes that you are uncoordinated if you are drunk. But there are so many variables that go into why people would be uncoordinated if they are drunk. It is a fault premise. Let’s take another example. What about the following premise: if you are good at football, then you are fast. Seems reasonable, right? Wrong. What about kickers, punters, or offensive lineman? Some quarterbacks aren’t even fast.

Inverse: If you are not coordinated, then you have been drinking.

The second cornerstone of field sobriety tests, and even more ridiculous than the faulty premise. The inverse assumes that everyone in the world who is uncoordinated – the little kid in elementary school who was always picked last, babies who haven’t learned to walk yet, Gus Frerotte, my sister – are all drunk. The inverse of my football example is that if you are fast, then you are good at football. This doesn’t make sense either. I am fast, but I am not good at football.

Converse: If you aren’t drunk, then you are coordinated.

Put another way, the converse states that if you are not drunk, then you are not uncoordinated. So everyone who isn’t drunk is coordinated. Again, think of the little kid playing kickball. That kid wasn’t drunk. But That kid also wasn’t coordinated. The football converse is that if you are not good at football, then you are not fast. Usain Bolt is not good at football. Usain Bolt is very, very fast.

Contrapositive: If you are coordinated, then you aren’t drunk.

One of the things that law enforcement officers like people to believe is that everyone who is drunk will drive their vehicle like a madman – weaving in and out, crossing over center lines, etc. This is not the case. Plenty of people drive their cars or act coordinated when they are drunk. So coordination doesn’t necessarily mean not drunk. Back to football (because I am a huge football fan), to say that if you are not fast, then you are not good at football (the contrapositive) is also not necessarily true. I again point to the kickers, punters, and offensive linemen of the world.

Why do we care about all this? Well, our criminal system was founded on “innocent until proven guilty.” We would rather see 99 guilty people go free, then lock up even 1 innocent person. So this does matter. Field sobriety tests are unreliable and they don’t prove that someone has been drinking or are guilty of driving under the influence.

I am not your lawyer. You are not my client. This is not legal advice. It is merely information. Every situation is different and you should contact an attorney licensed in your state to discuss your specific needs. If you need a DUI defense attorney in Maryland or Virginia, contact a Maryland DUI attorney or Virginia DUI attorney without delay.


What A DUI Attorney Would Tell You About Field Sobriety Tests

September 8th, 2010

Field sobriety tests. Everyone knows what they are, but few people know much more than that. Standardized field sobriety tests (by the NHTSA) include the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, one-legged stand test, and the walk-and-turn test. Often times, the administering police officer will add some non-standardized tests to the mix.

But what is more important than the type of test given is the purpose for which the test is given. To understand field sobriety tests, you have to know what they are meant for. They are not “tests” in the traditional sense, meaning that you can’t “pass” these tests. They are meant to test whether you are too impaired to drive safely.

Before I go any further, this article is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. If you need a DUI attorney, you should contact a lawyer who is licensed in your specific state.

While field sobriety tests are administered every day to determine whether people are too impaired to drive safely, they are inherently unfair. There are so many reasons, independent of alcohol, as to why a driver might perform poorly on these tests. What if the driver is tired? What if the driver is simply uncoordinated? What if the driver is distracted by something else in his or her life?

In addition to all the variables, these tests are usually performed at night under pressurized circumstances on the side of the road. Even the most sober person in the world will have trouble in this environment.

Finally, field sobriety tests (and how the driver fared) are completely in the eye of the beholder. The beholder in this case is the police officer. Whatever he or she says with respect to how you performed is likely not to be questioned.

As a DUI attorney, I am happy when a new client tells me that he or she did not take field sobriety tests after being stopped for suspected DUI. This makes my job a little bit easier (of course, there is usually that pesky breath machine to deal with as well), because the field sobriety tests are designed for the driver to fail.

There are two more things to realize about field sobriety tests. The first thing is that they are usually optional. Find out whether this is the case in your jurisdiction. The police officer will rarely tell you that. If the officer is asking you to take field sobriety tests, he or she has already likely smelled alcohol on your breath and is going to arrest you. Don’t give the state more evidence.

The second thing is that field sobriety tests are not an exact science. Often times, the police officer will not have followed the proper procedure. In other words, the evidence produced as a result of taking the tests is defensible.

For more information on DUI, or other traffic-related offenses, take a look at the traffic attorney blog, written by a DUI attorney.


What Should I Ask My DUI Attorney At Our First Meeting?

August 25th, 2010

Intro:

If you have been pulled over for suspected DUI, and given a citation for driving under the influence, you may believe that you have no chance at fighting your case. But in reality, the prosecution still must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were, in fact, driving under the influence of alcohol.

This article is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. If you require the advice of a DUI attorney for your specific needs or situation, you should do so. Additionally, remember that not every attorney is licensed to practice in every jurisdiction, so you should seek a DUI attorney that is able to practice in the State or jurisdiction where you received your DUI charge.

1) Driving a vehicle:

a. The State must prove that you were “driving.” The definition of driving varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and it is easy to prove if you were driving down the street in your car, did something wrong, and a police officer pulled you over. But it isn’t easy to prove if the car was stopped in a parking lot or garage, you were asleep, or the car was off. These can raise questions about the driving element.

b. You also need to be driving a vehicle. Again, if you are driving a regular automobile, then this is simple for the prosecution to prove. But what constitutes a vehicle? Again, the issue can be blurred. As an extreme example, what if you are on a bike with a portable fan taped to the car seat, which helps propel the bike forward?

Although it has happened, usually the question of whether a DUI defendant was driving the vehicle is not an issue more often than not. But it is important to know that it can be an issue, if the facts are there to create a dispute.

2) Under the influence of alcohol or some other substance:

a. There are generally two ways the prosecution can prove that you were driving under the influence. The first is through testing your blood alcohol content (BAC), which is the method that we are most keenly aware. “What did you blow?” is often the first question that anyone is asked when retelling their DUI story. Many states have a BAC threshold, which amounts to “under the influence per se,” meaning the BAC at which the State has decided you are automatically deemed under the influence without the need for further evidence. But, in any case where the accused’s BAC is tested, the reliability of the test is an issue. The State still needs to prove that the test is reliable enough that the judge or jury should use it against you.

b. The prosecution can also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were under the influence by taking the testimony of others at the scene (i.e. people who observed you in whatever state you were in). This is where field sobriety tests are crucial. If you agreed to take them (in many states, they are optional), then the prosecutor will assuredly ask the police officer his or her impressions about how you did on the tests. Additionally, if you told the officer that you had been drinking, or if you speech was slurred, this is evidence of intoxication. The good news is that you can defend yourself at trial. You or your attorney can poke holes in the witness’s testimony on cross-examination. You can also call your own witnesses, if they have personal knowledge of your level of intoxication.

End note:

The important thing to note is that being charged with a DUI doesn’t mean being found guilty of DUI. There are many ways to challenge a DUI charge, and they start with the elements of the offense.

A DUI citation carries with it a load of consequences. For this reason alone, you should hire a DUI attorney to represent your interests. If you receive a DUI citation in Virginia or Maryland, contact a Virginia DUI lawyer or Maryland DUI attorney without delay.


Get The Best DUI Lawyer Money Can Buy.

August 19th, 2010

You truly do need the best lawyer your money can buy,when it comes to DUI charges.

Every state is becoming more strict and most are adding mandatory minimum sentences. Even if it happens to be the first time you have been arrested for driving under the influence, expect your life to change dramatically.

We live in the Mesa Arizona area and here, the laws regardingdriving under the influence or “DUI”, are very strict. A friend of my family recently had a tragic family event occur and rather than deal with it in the appropriate manner, he chose to drink and drive. Everyone who was with him that evening decided to take a cab and they were not able to retrieve the keys away from him. A few minutes after they left to hail a taxi, he was pulled over by the police. He now faces a two year suspension of his driving license and possible jail or home confinement with a ankle bracelet monitoring device. He now faces a two year suspension of his driving license and possible jail or home confinement with a ankle bracelet monitoring device. I was able to attend his first meeting with the DUI lawyer he selected. I told him I wanted to learn more about lawyers and how they handle DUI cases. I also wanted to learn about their fees and mandatory minimum sentences for our specific state, Arizona. DUI laws vary according to what state you are charged in.

Each lawyer specializes in the laws in his or her state. It is true that most states now have mandatory minimum sentences for DUI offenders, even first timers. Our friend contacted and met with several lawyers and the minimum cost was around five thousand dollars. If the case ends up in a trial, it could cost even more. This says nothing about the effects on the offenders family, job and social life. In Utah state, your drivers license is suspended before you are even convicted. If you don’t have an lawyer, you are looking at very serious consequences that you may not face if you hire the right DUI lawyer.

You can almost certainly forget about getting the charges filed against you dropped, if you don’t have a very good lawyer that specializes in defending DUI cases. You definitely need to find a way to obtain the best lawyer that specializes in this field.

Use the Internet to find the very best lawyer. Search forums and reviews for lawyers in your specific state and or county. Plan on paying a heavy price both financially and emotionally if you are convicted of driving under the influence. Your only hope is having the very best defense and an expert who wins cases similar to yours.Use the Internet to find the very best lawyer.

Looking to find the best deal on lawyer dui phoenix, then visit www.lawyerduiphoenix.com to find the best advice on Attorney DUI Phoenix for you.


Duties Of A Personal Injury Lawyer

August 18th, 2010

What is known as personal injury is an accidents happen due to the negligence of another party or institution. Of course nobody wants to experience being a victim of an accident.

The worse that may happen is being a victim of a personal injury. As we all know nobody has the full control on what will happen in the future. But now you do not have to worry that much because there are Phoenix personal injury lawyer that are ready to give help.

And because of these accidents, if you are the victim it is just right that you have to seek the help of a Phoenix personal injury lawyer. There are lots of incidents that may happen. Time may come that you are driving a car when somebody hit you accidentally. Vehicular accidents are just a sample of those possible accidents that may happen. Accidents may also be in the form of slip and fall, product malfunction, malpractice of profession, workplace accidents and a lot more.

In case of injury accidents it is important to seek immediately the help of the Phoenix personal injury lawyer so that you will be able to claim what you deserve. The lawyer will defend you and see to it that you will be able to get the right compensation. Of course you cannot tell the whole thing about the incident. For sure there are witnesses that can state the whole thing about the accidents. With this it is the duties and responsibility of the lawyer to gather all the statement of the witnesses in order to make the case stronger. There are some lawyers who use some investigative team just to gather all the truth about the accidents. In this way the lawyer can assure you that they will do their best in order to defend you.

Make sure that he is familiar with the law that is governing where the accidents happen. And of course to make sure that you will successfully claim what you deserve, it is important to check on the experience of the lawyer. With the important role of the Phoenix personal injury lawyer in a personal injury case, it is just important that you hire the right lawyer. You have to make sure that the lawyer that you are hiring can protect your interest and guide you through all the legal proceedings. It will be better if you are going to hire someone who has already an experience in handling such case. In this case you have a great chance of winning the case.

Looking to find the best deal on Personal Injury Lawyer, then visit www.thephoenixpersonalinjurylawyer.com to find the best advice on Personal Injury Attorneys for you.


Halt Those Annoying Calls With A Bankruptcy Lawyer

August 17th, 2010

You probably have bankruptcy questions and that puts you in a similar situation to millions of other Americans. It’s a scary and difficult time, but it’s also not a time to ignore the phone and your deepening financial difficulties. For many Americans in today’s economy, a telephone call is enough to trigger that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach. The call is from another creditor looking for payment and perhaps threatening foreclosure and repossession of your car or home.

Whether it’s a lost job, unpaid medical bills or simply the worst recession in nearly 70 years that has placed you in an unstable financial footing, it’s important to understand that you still have control of the situation. You can stop those harassing phone calls that seem to multiply every single day and take actions to solve your financial crisis. The first step is to contact your bankruptcy lawyer and get some answers to your bankruptcy questions.

That way you will pay a reduced or no interest rate on unsecured debt like credit cards and some loans. That will stop the collection calls and you will soon be sending in one monthly payment that is divided among all of your creditors, according to the debt relief negotiations. Perhaps debt relief can solve your situation. An expert lawyer will contact all of your debtors to negotiate settlements.

However, maybe the situation is so advanced that repossession or foreclosure is imminent on a vehicle or home or other piece of property you own. Or creditors and perhaps even the federal government are threatening to garnish your wages. This is not the time to give up. Instead, this is the time a bankruptcy attorney can help you dig out from even a mountain of debt and lead you to a fresh start, free from the crushing debt that has turned your life into a nightmare.

Your bankruptcy attorney will determine whether to file a Chapter 13 reorganization plan or a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. If a bankruptcy lawyer determines that individual bankruptcy is the best answer for your financial situation, the papers can be filed electronically. That triggers legal protection that blocks any of your creditors from continuing to call or take action to try to collect debts, like garnishment, foreclosure or repossession. Even better, this so-called automatic stay remains in force as long as your case is in bankruptcy court.

Your attorney will determine if your income level fits the strict requirements for Chapter 7. If not, Chapter 13 is the second bankruptcy option. Under Chapter 7, any of your unsecured debts are completely liquidated. You must continue paying on secured debts.

The Chapter 13 budget plan also pays any discretionary money to your unsecured creditors. In Chapter 13, you can save your property by paying off what you owe, including penalties and missed payments, over time. It takes about 5 years for this to happen. Any unpaid debt for unsecured creditors at the end of the plan is discharged.

Learn more about Mesa Bankruptcy Lawyers. Stop by Mike Newton’s site where you can find out all about Mesa Bankruptcy Lawyer and what it can do for you.


How To Choose A Minneapolis Criminal Lawyer

August 15th, 2010

Has a plus against the prosecuting panel. One of the best things a criminal lawyer can give his clients is a wider view of your case. It is because of this that he can scrutinize your case from all elaborate positions and create a calculated line of defense against all forms of offense from the prosecutor. Your defense holds a good advantage if, for instance, you chose a criminal defense lawyer who once served as a public prosecutor. As a consequence, your attorney can see your stand from the standpoint of the prosecuting lawyer and compose a formidable defense fashioned with the know-how and experience of both a defense and a prosecuting lawyer.

Has abundant years of experience in the domain of criminal defense. Medals and trophies may represent the lawyer, but the only thing that substantiates any lawyer’s assertions of expertise is the expanse of experience he has gained in the domain of criminal defense. At times, a lawyer may say he has been serving for decades in the legal world, but you have to know whether those years were spent precisely in the criminal defense area. A legal professional who has been five years in criminal defense is undeniably more advantageous than a lawyer who has been leaping from one area to another in the last 20 years.

Accepted by his peers. A good legal professional is someone who is bears a status of honesty and dependability among his fellow lawyers. Professionals in the legal world have established societies that go through self-regulation to certify the integrity of their line of work. At best, any person offering legal services should be a reputable associate of the American Bar Association and the State Bar Association. Your selected criminal defense representative should be recognized by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National College of DUI Defense no less, the two most reputable national organizations founded to sustain excellence in criminal defense.

Commits profession completely to criminal defense. Specialization on one area of expertise secures that a lawyer has used all his available reserves for his immense development in that one field. Scattering himself too thin across all areas of practice in the legal industry will not improve any lawyer, since most wisdom is obtained not in law school but out in the real world itself, where lawyers argue for authentic cases where real human beings are concerned and the effects of any success or guilty verdict in a case are real. Would you rather hire a lawyer who has jumped from real estate, to corporate, to family and divorce, to criminal defense or would you rather commend your future into the hands of a lawyer who has been dealing with criminal defense most of his career?

Preserves quality relationships with clients. Any sincere professional working in any discipline is aware that at the center of his vocation is his client. You are encountering charges accusing you of a crime and what is at issue here is your fundamental human rights. Therefore, your criminal defense lawyer ought to position his clients above everything else and always make every effort to sustain good working and personal relationships with them. These relationships are not only constructed upon a client-oriented office environment but, more relevantly, heartfelt and open interactions between lawyer and client.

Gets results. This is the one thing that you have to know before shelling out your money for the services of any criminal defense legal representative. What good are inexpensive legal fees and memberships in national organizations if the attorney you select has a losing streak in all cases he deals with? Get recommendations from any potential lawyer, if possible, and question these former clients about their experiences in working with that specific lawyer. Find out if they won or lost their cases and let them explain the strategy that permitted them to win. There are some cases when the lawyer is necessitated to safeguard the privacy of his previous clients, but any one lawyer should, at least, have a number of testimonials to provide their prospective clients.

Demands reasonable fees. This is your future you are putting at stake here. Any person who is dealing with criminal charges of any sort is understandably suffering a psychological and social problem that affects his day-to-day life. It would be a massive disservice for any criminal defense attorney to extort a figure that is worth over the legal assistance that he provides. Flexible fees may seem favorable, at the outset, but any lawyer can use his arguing abilities to shape the fee arbitration to his favor. Always go for criminal defense lawyers with clear to understand fees; they have rid themselves of the opportunity to maneuver any fee agreement and, hence, have no ability to charge from you an amount that is more than the cost of your case.

Possesses a good reputation in the district justice system. In Minnesota, the legal process does not begin with the hearings; it commences with the pre-trial dealings, where your criminal defense lawyer can deal with the prosecuting attorneys to lighten the charges filed against you or even terminate the case altogether. A good reputability among the prosecutors and the entire local Minnesota justice system, thus, is important so that your lawyer can better locate himself during the pre-trial meetings and coax the prosecuting panel that you deserve the reduced charges or sacking of the case he is fighting for.

Don’t know if you have hear of him but KansDefense.com is a great defense lawyer I found while doing my research.


When Do You Need A DUI Attorney Phoenix?a

August 13th, 2010

If you are arrested or cited for DUI, allowing that citation to turn into a conviction may have very serious consequences. A DUI attorney Phoenix is often successful at having the charges dropped or negotiate less serious consequences. The work he does can save you embarrassment, money and time. He may even save your job.

Arizona law specifies that a person convicted of a DUI may spend ten days in jail on the first conviction. In addition, you may be fined and sentenced to community service. Fortunately, just because you are arrested for DUI does not mean that you must be convicted of the crime. As a citizen, you do have constitutional rights and an attorney can help to ensure that those rights are upheld.

Many persons who are convicted of a DUI and sentenced to jail time end up losing their jobs. Employers may not be able to hold the position open for you while you serve your sentence. If your job involves driving a company vehicle, the company’s insurance may no longer cover you. Drivers of commercial vehicles can be convicted of DUI on a blood alcohol count of 0.04. The conviction could mean that you must find a new career.

A second conviction for DUI can mean that you spend up to 90 days in jail. The judge can suspend all but thirty days which must be served consecutively. There are more fines and may be more community service. In addition, you may lose your driving privilege for up to a year. The DUI attorney can help to ensure that if you are convicted you spend the minimum amount of jail time and pay the lowest fines possible.

In addition to the fine you pay when convicted of DUI, you will also be reminded of the conviction each time you pay for car insurance. Your rates can increase by a factor of two to three. Many insurance companies may cancel your insurance after the conviction. You may only be able to purchase insurance from a state insurance pool.

Other possible penalties for DUI convictions include a court ordered auto interlock device. This device must be installed at your expense on any vehicle you drive. You must first do a blow test before the vehicle will start. If you fail the test, your vehicle will not start.

Persons charged with DUI cannot afford to face the charges without the help of a DUI Phoenix attorney. You need to contact the attorney as soon as possible so that he can begin to work to have your charges dropped.

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