The biggest thing that a lawyer can do for a client is to challenge the evidence in their Lubbock DUI case. From the time the client is stopped. An attorney will look at whether it was potentially a bad stop. If there has been a violation of either the Texas or the US Constitution. Or if there was any other sort of violation involved.
If the person can defeat the stop from the lawyer’s standpoint, that is ideal. Then, none of the evidence that was obtained after that, including any field sobriety tests or any type of chemical test, would be admissible in court. An attorney also wants to challenge any statements that are made in the case.
To understand how an attorney can most effectively challenge the evidence in a Lubbock DUI case, it is important to consult with an experienced attorney as soon as possible. A knowledgeable Lubbock DUI lawyer can build a case to help challenge the government’s allegations.
Gathering Relevant Evidence
There is both Texas and federal law that gives people certain rights when accused of a crime. Therefore, an attorney wants to make sure that any statements that are given are actually given under the correct authority and law, and that any evidence not obtained legally in a Lubbock DUI case can be challenged.
A lawyer will want to evaluate the evidence from the time the individual gets out of the car. An attorney will determine why the individual got out of the car, and if the police had enough reasonable suspicion to remove them from the vehicle and perform any sort of field sobriety test.
An experienced lawyer will want to challenge the field sobriety test in at least three ways. Any mistakes the police officer makes may be used to help a lawyer resolve the case favorably.
Qualifications of an Officer
In every case that an attorney pulls, they will call upon the T-CLO report of the officer. The lawyer will look at the officer’s training, how long they have been working with DUI cases, and when their refreshers were. An attorney will also pull the officer’s personnel record and payroll record.
A lawyer will want to determine if the officer may be making extra money from their DUI arrests, for example. The person may argue that they are trying to incur more overtime. Therefore, the cop has a financial incentive in the case.
Finally, a lawyer should look at not just the specific tests, but the case overall. Did the individual know that there is no scientific validity between someone’s eyes twitching or not being able to perfectly perform a walk and turn or one-leg stand test? Did the officer know that the person may have lost some use of their mental or physical faculty? It is important to keep these elements documented when looking to challenge the evidence in a Lubbock DUI case.
When the police at trial try to use these tricks, a lawyer must be able to call that into question. An attorney must challenge if there is an arrest or search warrant for blood. What happens in Texas, once a person is arrested, is that the police officer will read them the statutory warning. Many of these dynamics can help a lawyer challenge the relevant evidence in a Lubbock DUI case.