If you go out to dinner at an Indiana restaurant with four friends, and each of you consumes an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol will affect every person differently. Your body mass index, age, health and genetics are all factors that determine how alcohol will act in your system. It takes a while for alcohol to leave a person’s body. In fact, if you enjoy a mixed drink or a beer today, it can still be detected using a Breathalyzer device 24 hours later.
This could cause a lot of legal complications. If a police officer pulls you over in a traffic stop because he or she witnessed your tires touching the yellow line, you might be asked to take a breath test or field sobriety test. If you fail, you can be arrested for DUI, then instructed to take a Breathalyzer test, which could detect alcohol in your system if you drank it within the past 24 hours.
The question to answer would be whether you are still impaired
You no doubt have heard numerous suggestions for overcoming a hangover, such as drinking copious amounts of black coffee or taking a cold shower. In reality, doing these things might make you feel better, but they cannot lower your blood alcohol content level. It takes your body a certain amount of time to process alcohol, and nothing you do can change that.
In Indiana, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle if your blood alcohol content level is more than .08. However, if you are tired from the night before and appear unfocused or incoherent to the officer who has pulled you over, he or she may count this as suspected impairment and take you into custody. A Breathalyzer test may register positive for the alcohol you drank the night before, and if it is still at a level of legal impairment, you could wind up facing DUI charges.
What are your defense options for DUI?
When Indiana prosecutors have filed criminal charges against you for DUI, you are allowed to refute those charges in court. Whether you should plead guilty or fight the charges is a decision you must make. There are often several defense strategies that may be relevant to a particular case.
Most defendants seek legal consultation to help them determine which approach might be best in a particular set of circumstances. It is critical to clearly understand state laws, to know your rights and how to protect them in court, especially if you believe your personal rights were violated during the process.