When a police officer wants to arrest you for a driving under the influence (DUI) infraction, they will ask you specific questions, request a field sobriety test and administer a chemical breath test. Unfortunately, some people who happily agree to perform a breath test in the hopes of exonerating themselves end up failing despite their confidence.
If you performed a breath test during a drunk driving traffic stop or after a car crash and believe that the results were inaccurate, you may want to challenge those test results as part of your criminal defense strategy.
When could you potentially challenge a chemical breath test?
If there is a medical explanation
Do you have blood sugar issues or do you follow a special diet that might mean you were in a state of ketoacidosis at the time of your traffic stop? Your attempt to lose weight or your aversion to starting treatment for diabetes might explain why you failed a breath test.
So could a host of other medications and physical conditions. Presenting a medical explanation for a failed test can be a viable defense strategy in some cases.
If there are issues with the test unit
Police departments don’t always maintain their chemical breath test systems the way that they should. They may have failed to download a recent software update or may have gone weeks without calibrating the testing unit. When there are issues with how the police department maintained the testing unit, that could provide the basis for a challenge of the results in criminal court.
If you can prove you didn’t drink
There are numerous circumstances in which you could potentially prove that you haven’t consumed any alcohol despite the breath test that seems to show otherwise. Breath tests sometimes fail for no discernible reason.
Security camera footage that your work showing that you had just spent eight hours at an office desk and were sober when you left would be a perfect example. Any evidence that can show you were not under the influence could lead to you successfully raising questions about the accuracy of the test results and the validity of the charges against you.
Reviewing the circumstances leading to your arrest carefully can put you in a position to fight back against pending DUI charges.