Olathe Refuse Breathalyzer Test Attorney
Johnson County Kansas Implied Consent Lawyer
Paul D. Cramm - Implied Consent - Should You Refuse a Breathalyzer?
Sometime or another, we've all heard someone say, "If you're stopped for a DUI, don't blow and they can't convict you." Can it possibly be that easy to get around the whole drunk driving law enforcement system?
There's no question that the Intoxilyzer blood alcohol test results will usually be the strongest evidence against you in a DUI case. Without that evidence, what can the prosecutor do?
Contact my office in Olathe for better advice from a lawyer about the defense of drunk driving charges. Kansas has what's known as a dual standard for DUI prosecution - while a BAC reading of 0.08 will normally prove the prosecution's DUI case against you, it's not necessary. The alternative standard allows for reliance on "other evidence" such as you appearance, demeanor, odor of alcohol, actual driving behavior and performance on Standardized Field Sobriety Tests to show that you were incapable of safely operating your vehicle at the time of the stop. If you refuse a breathalyzer but submit to a field sobriety test that shows you staggering all over a highway shoulder - on video, no less - or if your driving was erratic and your speech slurred, and you reek of alcohol on top of it, it may be easy for the prosecutor to prove your guilt even without an Intoxilyzer Breath Test result.
Another consideration is the effect on your driver's license. If you refuse the breath alcohol test, you most certainly will have violated the implied consent law, which means that you're facing a driver's license suspension. If your priority is to avoid a criminal conviction, then refusal of the breath test may be your best strategy, particularly if you have enough sense at the moment to provide no other evidence of any kind. No field sobriety test, no statements to the police, no nothing. Just bear in mind that refusal of the breath test may have far more severe implications with regard to you driver's license.
If your main priority is to keep your driver's license and you have no prior alcohol-related driving occurrences, then you may be better off to submit to the breath test and take your chances on the DUI charge in negotiations or at trial. There is no one right answer to the question: "To blow or not to blow?" The best strategy depends largely on the details of each individual's circumstances. Either way, you need the advice of an experienced Kansas City DUI defense attorney. Contact me at my office in Olathe for a free consultation.
