Posts tagged Belief That
Houston DUI – Arraignment and Motion to Suppress?
Aug 9th
Reader’s Question:
I just recently had the arraignment of my DUI case here in Houston, Texas and I pleaded not guilty so the case will continue. Would all be the evidence against me on my drunk driving arrest automatically be admissible in court?
Grant
Houston, TX
When the prosecution begin to prepare their DUI case against you in Houston, Texas, they start by collecting all the evidence that supports their claim that you were really driving under the influence. But just because the prosecutors have collected it and want to present it at trial does not mean that it is automatically admissible. There are actually strict legal requirements that determine whether a piece of evidence can be presented at trial. A very important part of making your DUI case is arguing that the evidence that the prosecution wants to present at trial does not meet these requirements and therefore cannot be used against you.
Your DUI lawyer can formally request for motion to suppress to ask the court to exclude certain evidence from a trial because it was obtained illegally or improperly by the police officer. An example is that your DUI lawyer can argue that the officer did not have probable cause to pull you over. Suppression motion would argue that the officer’s belief that you were drunk driving was not “reasonable.” That means that the officer’s justification for your DUI stop should be something he actually saw. If motion to suppress will be successful, all the evidence that was made possible by pulling you over can also be suppressed.
Can The Smell of Alcohol Be Enough in Houston DUI Arrest?
Jul 30th
Reader’s Question:
I have read an article that alcohol may not be detected by merely the smell of it. If that is the case then, can we say that the odor of alcohol is not enough for DUI arrest in Houston, Texas?
Shanice
Houston, TX
Yes, the odor of alcohol is really not enough for a DUI arrest in Houston, Texas. A study shows that police may not be able to detect the odor of alcohol on the breath of motorists who are pulled over for investigation. The smell of an alcoholic beverage on the breath of a motorist is very often used by police to create reasonable belief that the person has alcohol in his/her body. A police officer who forms this kind of belief can demand that the person provide a sample of breath into a portable breath test (PBT) device. A person who registers positive on the PBT would be arrested for DUI and taken for breath tests to find out the amount of alcohol in his or her system.
In a recent study, 20 experienced police officers were asked to detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage on the breath of 14 subjects who had blood alcohol content (BAC) that ranges from .00 to .13%. The drinking subjects were not seen in the experiment. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected in 2/3 of the subjects for BACs that are below .08%, and 85% of the time when BACs exceeded .08%. The police observers were less successful in detecting the odor of alcohol after food consumption by the drinking subjects. Moreover, the officers were unable to recognize what type of beverage was consumed and it was found that the strength of the odor as noted by police doesn’t have correlation to BAC levels.
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