In WA State, most people understand that you can be charged with DUI if your breath test result is .08 or above. However, WA State law provides that you can be charged with driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor when your ability to drive is effected to any appreciable degree. This general law determines that you can be charged with drunk driving and have a breath test of under .08. For example, if a Tacoma police officer observes careless driving or you are in a motor vehicle accident, they may recommend that you be charged with DUI even though your breath test was under the legal limit. This is especially true if you are unable to pass the optional field sobriety tests. Cristine Beckwith is a Tacoma Pierce County DUI attorney that has had successful results fighting for clients with breath test results above and below the presumptive legal limit.
King County recently heard motions addressing whether to continue suppressing breath test tickets in Driving Under the Influence cases. They have ruled that any breath tests associated with Simulator Solution batches prior to batch number 09052 will still be suppressed under their previous order. An experienced DUI attorney can fight to keep your breath test suppressed under this ruling. Cristine Beckwith is a Pierce County DUI attorney who has successfully argued to suppress DUI breath test results.
In 2011, the legislature has approved a new law that will no longer require that DUI defendants entering into a deferred prosecution have an ignition interlock requirement. This eliminates the statutory requirement for a two year ignition interlock license that was set by the Washington State Legislature in 2009. However, individual jurisdictions may still require DUI defendants to have an ignition interlock license, but they are no longer mandated to do so. More information on Washington State DUI law is available on the DUI Defense Practice Area page. Cristine Beckwith is an attorney in Tacoma, WA and defends the rights of those accused of felony and misdemeanor DUI.
When you are stopped and arrested for a DUI, do not consent to a search of your motor vehicle. There is new precedence that determined that the search of a motor vehicle incident to an arrest during an alcohol DUI arrest is unlawful. For instance, if you are arrested on a DUI and put in a police vehicle and they subsequently found marijuana in your car, there would be a suppression issue in your case. As a Tacoma, WA based DUI lawyer, Cristine Beckwith has been successful at suppressing evidence that is subject to an unlawful DUI search.
Your DUI breath test may be over the legal limit on the breath ticket you receive from law enforcement, but may in fact be below the legal limit. Washington State is not providing confidence intervals on breath tests and criminal defense attorney’s such as Cristine Beckwith have been successfully arguing in some jurisdictions that without this evidence, DUI breath test results should not be admissible in court. Scientific data is generally accepted when the rate of uncertainty is presented with the data. Prosecutors are presenting this evidence without providing the information regarding the uncertainty data for those tests. Without this evidence, some courts are finding that the breath tests as submitted are not supported by generally accepted standards in the scientific community and as a result are suppressing some breath tests. Cristine Beckwith is a Tacoma DUI attorney with a proven track record on DUI defense.