Unlawful Arrest for DUI

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Certain arrests made under the suspicion of driving under the influence end up being unlawful arrests on the officer's part. An unlawful arrest is defined as an arrest made without any reasonable basis or probable cause. The person is then denied any freedom of movement under the officer's assumed legal authority. Unlawful arrests arise from DUI convictions since the field sobriety tests done on suspects are very subjective. Their subjectivity comes from the officer's preliminary assumption that the driver is already drunk (based on tailed movements), so his or her physical movements are interpreted as under a certain influence.

What to do

Note that field sobriety tests are voluntary in some states. State this fact to the officer should he or she insist on you taking it. To lessen your chances of an unlawful arrest, be honest with the officer when answering questions. If you had nothing alcoholic to drink then you have nothing to hide. It would also be helpful to say you did not have anything to drink and then take the field sobriety tests. The police officer may also insist on arresting you for DUI because they can smell you've been drinking. If you have any alternative explanations for this, be honest about it.

Unlawful arrests reach the point of an officer abusing his or her authority. Some cases involve the driver declaring he or she has not drunk anything but the officer will insist on it without any strong probable evidence. The troubled driver has the right to resist such an arrest. The defense lies on his or her innocence of the crime. The person then has the right to protect one's self from an arrest based on false assumptions. The defense can be made stronger through scientific tests, proving that the driver has no significant amount of blood alcohol concentration. Should the officer use the sobriety test results, the defendant can rely on the greater accuracy found in scientific analysis of blood, urine, and breath. Your case will be made stronger if you have no significant BAC based on the test results and you had been arrested due to DUI. This will result in an unlawful arrest made on you.