Allen County DUI Attorneys

The penalties for DUI are quite serious in Indiana. Yet the police and prosecutors are required to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. This means collecting scientifically valid evidence at the scene and ensuring the tests used to confirm that you are over the legal limit have been performed correctly and accurately.

If you have been charged with DUI, the Allen County DUI attorneys at the Bellinger Law Office can force the prosecution to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. If they cannot, we can get the charges dropped, dismissed, or get a not-guilty verdict at trial.

Field Sobriety Tests

There are three field sobriety tests that are authorized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Those are:

• The horizontal gaze nystagmus
• The one-legged stand
• Walk and turn

Time and again, these tests have been shown to produce false positives, which is fine if you are a district attorney, and you want to generate money for your district. The problem is that there is no scientific basis for assuming drunkenness based on any of these tests. In fact, they are designed to fail. 

In cases in which field sobriety tests are the only evidence presented in court, a good Allen County DUI attorney can ensure that you are not convicted on baseless tests.

Breathalyzer Tests

Breathalyzer tests do not produce conclusive evidence of drunkenness. At best, they give a basic estimation of how much alcohol is on a person’s breath. Common reasons for false positives include:

• Improper calibration of equipment – Breathalyzer tests must be calibrated correctly in order to give legally valid readings. If they are not, then the readings will tend to skew upwards and show drivers who are drunker than they actually are.

• The test was administered too soon – Since breathalyzers test the breath, any residual alcohol in the person’s mouth will skew the reading upward. 

• Rising BAC – Depending on when the breath test was administered, the BAC reading may give an inflated result depending on how soon after drinking they were tested.

• Medication and health conditions – Those on the keto diet have been shown to produce inflated BACs on breathalyzer tests. Acid reflux can also produce inflated results. Certain medications that cause those conditions will inflate BACs.
• Contaminated testing equipment – Breathalyzers need to be cleaned. Sample contamination from previously administered tests may give false positives. So can the presence of certain chemicals.

Blood Tests

There is only one way to know for sure what someone’s blood alcohol concentration is. Unsurprisingly, it is by testing their blood. However, the test must be performed correctly. Blood samples must be kept refrigerated to avoid the blood from fermenting. The correct amount of blood must be taken. Then the alcohol is burned off, and a measurement is taken.

Talk to Allen County DUI Attorneys

If you have been pulled over and charged with DUI, you need an attorney who understands both the law and the science behind alcohol testing. Call the Robert Bellinger Law Office today and talk to an Allen County DUI attorney.