You Got Arrested for a Las Vegas DUI. Now What?
You had a few drinks. You got stopped by the police. A few minutes later, they arrested you on a Nevada DUI charge.
You submitted to a blood or breath alcohol test. You got released from jail with a citation to appear in court at a later date. What should you do now?
Our job is to collect favorable evidence and to help you in an attempt to keep the DUI off your record and to save your driver’s license. Along those lines, you can take steps to help us build and prepare your defense.
In the sections below, our Las Vegas DUI attorneys discuss 10 of these steps and how they may help bolster your Las Vegas DUI defense.
1. Talk to someone soon after the drunk driving arrest
Contact a friend, acquaintance, or family member as soon after the Las Vegas DUI arrest as possible and let them hear your voice. The DUI officers will likely claim that your speech was mumbled or slow, though this may be an exaggeration stemming from the officers’ desire to build a case against you.
Your friends or family may have a very different impression. They may recall that you seemed alert and coherent and that your speech was completely normal. If so, they may become important witnesses as to your lack of alcohol impairment.
2. Make a detailed itinerary of your eating and drinking pattern
Put together a timeline of events as to what you ate and drank prior to the DUI arrest. This will help your Nevada drunk driving case in two ways:
- Your BAC may have been considerably lower at the time of driving than when you later took the blood or breath test because your body was still absorbing the alcohol. Our toxicologists can use your timeline to extrapolate what your BAC would have been at the time of driving.
- Your itinerary may show that your BAC does not “match” your drinking pattern.
For example if you drank one martini and one glass of wine and “blow” a .13 on the Intoxilyzer 5000, there is simply no way that such a small amount of alcohol could get you to such a high BAC level. In a case like this, we know something must have gone wrong with the breath testing process, and that the reading must be falsely high.
3. Get receipts for alcohol & food purchases prior to the DUI arrest
We want to establish an accurate itinerary of what, when and where you drank and ate prior to the Las Vegas DUI arrest. However, we need as much documentation and corroboration as possible to prove it in court.
Credit card receipts or statements can be of some use, though the best is to get receipts from the establishment from which you purchased alcohol and food. These receipts should itemize what was bought and when.
You may have a dental condition that caused the breathalyzer to return falsely high BAC results.
4. Discuss your case with an experienced Las Vegas DUI attorney
Defending a drunk driving case is complicated. You must know:
- biology,
- alcohol physiology,
- the flaws of the breath machine and blood testing process,
- roadside police investigation procedures,
- Nevada DUI laws, and
- the bureaucracy of the local court system.
You would no more want to attempt this yourself than you would want to perform major surgery on yourself. You should visit a Las Vegas DUI lawyer as soon after the drunk driving arrest as possible while the details are still fresh in your mind and most of the potential evidence is still available.
5. Get evaluated for GERD & other stomach conditions
Suffering from GERD, acid reflux or heartburn may cause serious errors on DUI breath tests. The machine may give a falsely high reading, one that does not reflect your true blood alcohol level.
For our Las Vegas DUI clients who experience symptoms of GERD but have never seen a doctor for it, we always recommend a medical evaluation. If we discover that you indeed have the condition, we may be able to use the issue in defending the drunk driving case.
6. See your dentist
Another issue that may cause falsely high readings on the DUI breath test is dental conditions.
- Cavities,
- gingivitis,
- food impactions, and
- dental pockets
can all create a problem called “residual mouth alcohol.” This contaminates the breath sample, leading to erroneously high readings.
We recommend a complete dental evaluation if you suspect you have any of these conditions.
7. Notate any recent exposure to certain chemicals
Recent exposure to certain chemicals and industrial compounds may also contaminate the breath alcohol testing and lead to falsely high readings. Among the culprits are:
- paints,
- paint removers,
- glues,
- cements,
- adhesives,
- varnishes and
- solvents.
Once ingested, these substances can linger on your breath for days.
DUI breath machines can “mistake” these chemicals for alcohol. Las Vegas DUI suspects who work in construction or manufacturing should pay particular attention to this issue.
8. Visit the scene of the Las Vegas DUI arrest
Visiting the scene of the traffic stop can often be very useful. If you have a Las Vegas DUI lawyer, bring them along.
We want to pay special attention to the lighting and the surface conditions where you performed the field sobriety tests. Was the area:
- poorly lit,
- on a grade or slope,
- uneven,
- slippery,
- wet,
- rocky,
- gravely or
- patchy?
Adverse conditions can make it difficult for even the most sober person to perform these exercises.
Your drink receipt can contradict the D.A.’s contention that you drank to excess before driving.
9. Talk to any potential “sobriety witnesses”
If you had passengers in the car when you got stopped, or you were with the company shortly before the DUI arrest, talk to these people right away. Ask them questions:
- Did I appear drunk to you?
- How was my driving? Was my speech slurred?
- Was I alert and coherent?
- Was there anything that suggested to you that I was too intoxicated to drive?
Your friends may say that you were alert, sharp, speaking and driving normally. If so, we will want to collect statements from these witnesses to contradict the police’s contention that you appeared inebriated.
10. Be sure to contact the Nevada DMV within 7 days
In breath test cases, Nevada DUI law gives you 7 days from the arrest to contact the Nevada DMV and request a hearing to contest the license suspension. In blood test cases, this deadline does not apply until the blood results return from the laboratory.
If you fail to request the DMV hearing, you may:
- forfeit your right to challenge the suspension, and
- your license may get suspended automatically.
Do not forgo the opportunity to have a DMV hearing. Not only could the hearing potentially save your driving privileges, it also can be a forum for preparing your DUI case for court. Learn more about the DUI court process.