/ 202 LIFE / coach’s corner
Being smart, whether you
choose to drink or not
The dos and don’ts of a traffic stop
By Craig Rosenstein,
attorney at Rosenstein Law Group
ust like they teach in sex education, the best way to
protect yourself from a wrongful arrest this holiday season
is through abstinence. Avoiding any amount of alcohol
and driving will reduce (or shall I say eliminate?) your
chance of being accused of DUI. However, it is not illegal
to drink alcohol and then drive in itself. It is illegal to drink
to the point of impairment, or to drive if your blood alcohol
content exceeds certain bench marks, most notably .08.
This holiday season, police officers are going to run
saturation patrols called task forces throughout Arizona.
They are given large quantities of grant money (state and
federal) and approve a significant amount of hourly overtime
to allow officers to set up task forces and patrol heavier than
normal. These task forces will operate in different cities, on
different nights, and their stated and main objective will be
to arrest as many drunk drivers as possible. In theory, this
is an important and well-timed program to keep our roads
safe. However, we often see people falsely accused of DUI
as a result of these task forces and the inter-departmental
competition that they cause.
In order to make sure that you aren’t one of these
unfortunate souls, it is best to follow these instructions if
pulled over:
• Provide your name, license, registration and insurance.
• Firmly and politely request to speak to an attorney
immediately. Although you are legally required to
cooperate with investigations, officers cannot make
you perform physical roadside tests. The tests officers
J
administer are by definition not passable. If you score
poorly, you can fail the test. However, even if you
perform perfectly, the test is “inconclusive.” Therefore it
is not advisable to participate in these tests and is why
one should politely decline and ask politely (but firmly)
to speak with a lawyer.
• Ask to be released to obtain exculpatory evidence
including an independent blood test.
• NEVER answer the officer’s questions.
• NEVER agree to any blood or breath test until you have
talked with a lawyer, or until the officer advises that
“you’re entitled to no further delay.”
No one is arguing the severity and danger of driving
under the influence. Many people maintain that it is worth
arresting a few innocent people to keep the roads safer.
However, the embarrassment, loss of liberty and collateral
consequences to those accused of DUI are real. People
can lose their jobs, homes and families because they were
arrested and accused. Despite the potential damages, the
reality is that our fate is up to a machine. In fact, there have
been many issues concerning the blood-testing machines
and breath-testing devices in Arizona malfunctioning and
not accurately testing blood alcohol content, which could
potentially be wrongfully convicting DUIs here in the Valley.
The moral of the story: Even if you are abstaining from
driving under the influence this holiday season, you can still
be accused of a DUI, so remember the dos and don’ts of a
traffic stop to protect yourself.
ABOUT ROSENSTEIN LAW GROUP
Rosenstein Law Group, PLLC, is a Scottsdale-based law firm that specializes in DUI Defense Law serving Maricopa
County, Pinal County and Pima County, as well as tourists charged with DUI while visiting Arizona. Craig
Rosenstein, the law group’s founding partner, is the only DUI Defense Law attorney in Maricopa County that is a
recognized as a DUI specialist by the American Bar Association through the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. For
more information on Rosenstein Law Group, please visit www.scottsdale-duilawyer.com.
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202 magazine / october 2013 / 202magazine.com