Fort Wayne Drunk Driving Defense Lawyer

The police have charged you with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They likely conducted a field sobriety test and may have administered a roadside breathalyzer. They may have also drawn blood to determine your blood alcohol content. Can you fight these charges? Is the science behind roadside sobriety tests, breathalyzers, and blood tests really that unimpeachable? The answer is no. If you need help, contact a Fort Wayne DUI attorney to manage your case.

Roadside Sobriety Tests

There is literally no evidence that roadside sobriety tests are effective at determining whether someone is under the influence or not. As an example, if someone is so drunk that they are stumbling around, then you already know they are drunk, and the roadside sobriety test would have told you nothing new.

However, if someone has a bad knee, balance issues, neurological conditions, or stubbed their toe in the past week, they may not be able to effectively walk and turn or stand on one leg. Even the horizontal gaze nystagmus, which is considered by the NHTSA to be the “most effective” way at diagnosing drunkenness, can be thrown off by neurological conditions. 

Breathalyzer Tests

There is no scientific evidence that breathalyzer tests are effective at determining how drunk a person is. In fact, there is much scientific evidence to the contrary. As an example, those who are currently on the keto diet will end up with acetone on their breath. The breathalyzer will register acetone as alcohol, so even if you have had nothing to drink, you can still end up blowing a bad score on the breathalyzer. In other cases, the acetone will be enough to put you over the legal limit.

Blood Tests

The only legitimate scientific means of determining someone’s blood alcohol content is by testing the blood itself. While this sounds like common sense, law enforcement cannot administer roadside blood tests. That technology does not exist. So they use non-scientific means as indicators to gain probable cause for an arrest to test the blood.

While blood tests have the benefit of being scientifically accurate, they are not without pitfalls. The test must be performed absolutely right and the blood sample needs to be refrigerated to prevent fermentation of the blood.

The Bottom Line

Law enforcement exploits your lack of knowledge of the law and the science behind alcohol content to generate cases that provide revenue for their municipality. Do not plead guilty. Do not admit anything. Do not take a plea until you have let an attorney look at the evidence against you.

Call a Fort Wayne Drunk Driving Defense Lawyer

If you are being charged with driving under the influence, you want to exhaust every possible means of discrediting the prosecution’s evidence against you. Call The Bellinger Law Office today to learn more about how we can help.