DUI Trials: Motions

If you decide to fight your DUI in court, you (with your attorney’s help) maybe able to gain some ground through motions that undercut the prosecution’s evidence against you.

Motions to Suppress Evidence

If the police illegally arrested you or obtained any evidence against you in an illegal manner, you may be able to schedule a special pretrial hearing to suppress certain evidence. The prosecution is then prevented from using it at trial. For example, if you consented to give a blood sample only after the police beat you into submission, you may want to make a motion to suppress the test results which, if successful, would keep the test from being introduced into evidence at trial. A motion to suppress is heard several weeks (sometimes months) before the trial actually takes place. It is heard only before a judge, perhaps one who will not be presiding at your trial. This type of motion is fairly technical and complicated, and will probably involve cross-examining the officer who arrested you. Hire a lawyer to do this for you—do not to try to handle it yourself.

One common reason to pursue a motion to suppress would be if you believe that the officers had no probable cause to stop you and that the subsequent observations and tests should be kept out of evidence as “fruit of the poisonous tree.” While this argument is legally tenable, it almost never pans out for one simple reason. To stop you, the officers only have to have probable cause that you violated any rule of the road, from driving with a broken taillight to not having your seatbelt on. They don’t have to have any clue whatsoever that you were driving under the influence. Not surprisingly, it’s a rare police report that doesn’t contain some reason for stopping you.

Motions to "Strike a Prior"

A person who pleads guilty to or is convicted of a second or third offense of driving under the influence can suffer a far heavier penalty than a first offender. To obtain the heavier penalty, the prosecution must "charge" the prior conviction against you. When you initially plead "not guilty" to the offense, never admit any priors charged against you. Simply "deny" them. This is perfectly legal. If you "admit" them, you destroy any chance of challenging their validity on technical grounds. By having a prior conviction "stricken," you face a less-severe penalty if convicted on the current charge. The procedure to strike a prior is based on whether you were properly informed of or intelligently waived certain rights at any hearings related to the prior offenses. Again, this type of motion is extremely technical and will require a lawyer’s help.

Learn About DUI Law

If you decide to go to court to fight your DUI, educate yourself about DUI law, even if you hire a lawyer. This is not a recommendation that you handle your own DUI trial. The more you read about DUI and possible defenses the more you’ll have to bring to the table.

Here are a few additional references dedicated to specific subjects:

• Medical-Legal Aspects of Alcohol, edited by James C. Garriott (Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company).
• Intoxication Test Evidence, by Edward F. Fitzgerald (Thompson). This book is a treatment of breath, blood, and urine tests. It takes you even deeper than the other general-purpose books.
• Innovative DUI Trial Tools, by Bruck Kapsack.

You may find these books in a law library but more likely you’d have to purchase them (try Amazon). These books for lawyers typically cost $100 or more, but $100 may be a steal if it can help you (or your lawyer) win your DUI case.

Excerpted and adapted from Beat Your Ticket: Go to Court & Win, by David W. Brown (Nolo).