Guide to Police Questioning After Arrest for DUI
After you've been served the DUI arrest, you will be put in for questioning. The problem is, even police questioning is not ideal. Questions may be framed in such a way that your responses would result in the detriment of your case. This is why you should be familiar with your rights and options when faced with questioning in a DUI case.
Your options during police questioning
After or during arrest, it is a standard procedure for the officer to read your Miranda rights. You should be made aware of your rights to ensure that you won't be incriminating yourself. You should be informed that you have the right to remain silent, have a legal counsel, and that all of the responses you made during the questioning will and can be used as evidence against you. If you were not made aware of these rights, you can mention this to your lawyer so that the evidence gathered from questioning can be challenged and be blocked from being used in court.
Your best recourse is, of course, to get legal counsel through a DUI lawyer. Aside from the advantage of legal advice, you also have a lawyer who is familiar with the DUI laws within your area. You are entitled to call your lawyer pending arrest, or you can also have a friend or a loved one do it for you. The next thing you should do is stay silent; further questioning is on hold until the arrival of your lawyer.
A note about questioning
The police can actually get an admission from you prior to arrest. If you were asked, "Were you drinking alcohol?"and you answered in the affirmative, then that's already an admission. The question now becomes whether or not you exceeded the legal limit, which is usually a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.08. If you also gave information about the amount you drank, then you'll be in for more trouble. Remember that the Miranda rights would only kick in if an arrest has been made. If you were just being questioned prior to arrest, then everything's fair game. The best thing to do is to consult your lawyer if you think you're headed for trouble.
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"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."These are very popular lines during a crime scene, particularly in an attempt to make an arre...