Understanding DUI Right to Counsel Phone Calls

Thanks for joining me today. I’m going to talk today about the legal advice that a criminal lawyer can give someone charged with impaired driving upon arrest. So what’s going to happen is let’s just give a scenario , you’re driving your car and police stop you and they determined that you’ve been drinking. In their mind they have reasonable grounds for arrest so they arrest you for impaired driving, they might give you an approved screening device demand or they might think tey have grounds without the screening device. So they arrest you, they tell you that, they read your rights to counsel, which means you have a right to retain and instruct counsel without delay. That means you have a right to phone, the lawyer of your choice or you can phone duty counsel and they’re going to allow you to make that phone call back at the police station.

They’re going to tell you that and you want to do that for sure. There’s no question. So they’re going to bring you back to the police station, they might process you and bring you into a cell and then facilitate that call. So they’ll give you a list of lawyers. You can try the lawyers if you know where you can try and or you could call duty counsel. Now what am I going to say to one of these clients? Well, there’s certain advice that has to be given, this is what I’m going to say to a client.

First of all, I got to find out what the arrest is for I might ask to talk to the officer who’s arrested them by the way to find out the exact nature of the charges. Is it an impaired by drug? Or is it impaired by alcohol? This is an important difference. So let’s assume it’s impaired by alcohol. I can say look, they’re going to give you they’re going to demand to breath samples from you.

They may demand more than that, for certain reasons. But I say to them, you have to provide those breath samples, you cannot refuse. If you’re refusing you’re going to be charged for the same criminal offense for the same consequences for refusal as the same consequences of an impaired driving. So please provide those breath samples. I don’t want you talking at all to the police. I don’t want you to answer any questions. I don’t want you engaging in any social chitchat because this is all on video. And the video is recording your words. If you’re slurring it’s going to record that. It’s going to show the impaired side so don’t say anything. Just stay silent.

So for example, if you answer a question, just say one time, I’m not answering any questions on my lawyers advice, and then just stay silent, I mean, don’t say a word, because they want you to engage in social chitchat and then the person starts slurring or acting goofy, the judgments bad, It’s all shown on video and you’ll lose your case as simple as that. So provide the breath samples, shut up and another thing, I tell them look, if you’re in a chair, don’t get up from the chair, you want to move as little as possible to because if you’re moving you might be swaying or doing this.

So if you don’t have if you could sit down on a chair, sit down in that breath room and don’t move because I see a lot of clients in the breath room they’re fidgety and they want to get up and walk around. The breath tech loves that, the technician because it shows them weaving, we’ve seen people falling over in the breathroom before so you’ve got to see these things.

I usually say to them, look as well, if it’s impaired by drug case, what I say to them, they’re going to do a drug test evaluation. There’s a series of balance and coordination and other tests, you have to comply with those. If you don’t, it’s a criminal offense, again, say nothing and the police may want to ask you all sorts of questions.

Please don’t answer those. If you want to lose your criminal case, this DUI case go and answer those questions. Why people don’t listen to me over the years, but that’s very good, solid advice. So those are the basics that I go through with them. I also usually ask the arresting officer, if they’ll be released.

Typically, if a person’s got no prior records their obviously going to be released after they sober up and I explained this to clients and they say give us a call after and we can give you some good legal advice and if you want to retain us after so, so those are the basics you have a right to remain silent. Exercise it and don’t say anything Shut up, move as little as possible. So you’re not exhibiting impaired symptoms. Don’t engage in social chitchat and comply with whatever test they asked you to do. Because that’s an absolute requirement as a criminal code defense to refuse.

So there you have it. That’s the legal advice that a good lawyers can provide to a client charged with impaired by alcohol or impaired by drug.

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