FLASH: Utah DUI Enforcement Today Is Crazy!  The law does not target “Drunk” or impaired drivers, although certainly they get arrested as well, rather it targets regular never-been-in-trouble-before drivers who are stopped on a weekend night for some other minor traffic infraction. Let’s assume you weren’t “impaired” at all. You just took your medication as directed. If you received a DUI ticket welcome to the “assumed guilty” side of criminal justice. The USA gave out 1.6 MILLION DUI tickets last year alone. 90% of those people were not impaired at all, they just couldn’t “pass” the field tests! DUI enforcement is about the most screwed up part of our criminal justice system today; police use meaningless physical agility exercises to determine “impairment,” tests that have never been attempted on sober people to demonstrate their effectiveness or validity. Moreover, breath test vary widely both upwards and downwards from actual blood levels, so some people at a blood BAC of .05, the legal level can blow twice as much or half as much depending on something called their partition ratio. DUI civil and criminal procedure are more important than the truth, or facts of the case. If you are completely innocent and everyone admits it – if you fail to ask for a DLD hearing within ten days of the ticket date you will lose your license just the same as someone who hit another vehicle while drunk.

The Criminal Justice System Doesn’t Care That You Have Never Been In Trouble Before.  Most DUI defendant’s have never been in trouble before. A common misconception is that they will just approach the prosecutor and tell them their story, and the prosecutor will let them off easy. Not A Chance In Hell! Line up behind the thousands of people that thought exactly the same thing and had the same law abiding background. I’m just being straight with you. Everyone wants a break. No one can “afford” to lose their license – and neither the justice system nor the DLD cares even a little bit about your “needs.” Lawyers provide access to the legal system, period. Don’t try to play a game where you don’t know the rules – you wouldn’t try it in Vegas – or with your health – and you shouldn’t try it here – where serious life altering consequences are at stake.

Knowledge Is Everything – And I Mean Everything!  On the left side of your ticket is the Criminal Case; it tells you what court to report to within five to fourteen (5 – 14) days from the date of the ticket. At the bottom in little tiny letters is the Civil Case, it cautions you to request a hearing from the DLD within ten (10) days of the ticket; those are two separate responsibilities, yet often the cops don’t explain them correctly. But let’s say we magically got rid of your DUI right now – is your problem solved? Not even close. It’s actually just beginning. You are now “marked” in the computer and every time you are stopped for the rest of your life cops are going to be “investigating” you closely. Do you know that you should refuse to do roadside field sobriety tests 100% of the time?  There is one thing I do better than any other lawyer out there – I will give you every single example of what can go wrong with the rules that are in place now. Washing your motorcycle in your driveway while drinking a beer? DUI. Sitting on your friend’s ATV around a campfire? DUI. Holding the rope to another person’s Jetski ? DUI. Sleeping in the back of your pickup at a campground? DUI. Bicycle from the bar? DUI. And on and on and on. Without this paranoia, the next time you are stopped the cop will “see” your prior arrest and they will embark on an “investigation.” If you are not ready and think that your legal prescription to your medication protects you or that the sleeping pill you took last night has worn off , you will walk yourself right into another DUI – and the second DUI will ruin your life as you know it. Ten (10) mandatory minimum days in jail, two years of drivers license suspension, supervised probation with random drug and alcohol testing, and on and on.