Mistakes To Avoid,Drink Driving,Driving Law Guide,Mistakes In drink driving cases
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having a dynamic impact on your case.
Experience is the key to success in
such case. Myself and my team of lawyers have more than 30
years court experience between us. Both of my assistants
were former Procurator Fiscals and one of them was even a
traffic policeman for the first 1/2 of his career!
We did not set up our law practise yesterday we have
been doing this for more than 24years. Let our experience
make the difference in your defence.
Drink Driving, Dangerous Driving and Speeding
cases, often require a lot of technical and scientific
information to be obtained analysed and thoroughly
considered. In addition to knowledge of the basic
laws of procedure and evidence that govern just what
evidence can be laid before a court,our experience may be the
deciding factor in winning your case.
Drink driving cases can be among the most
difficult to defend. Because of the evidential complexity, several
mistakes can be made when it comes to presenting and defending
road traffic law cases. Expert legal assistance therefore is
essential. The outcome can mean death or terrible injuries
to others and in relation to you it can mean losing your
licence, losing your job, paying considerable fines, being
sent to prison, having a huge hike in your insurance premium, and
the effect on your current prospects. We
can provide you with a FREE online consultation right NOW!
Mistakes In Drink
Driving Cases...
Mistake 1-
Assuming YOU Cannot Win
When that intoximeter has printed out
the reading of more than 35ug your heart sinks as you
realise the consequences of the result. It is at this stage
that some people just throw in the towel. The police officer
may have explained that the roadside test wasn't reliable
but nobody is suggesting that THIS machine has got it wrong.
You may be left in a cell for the next few hours then handed
a slip of paper and told to be in court or face arrest.
However the breath test, the
alcohol blood level test, the alcohol urine test and the roadside tests all have potential
pitfalls. It may be in the method of use, the procedures not
being followed as they should be or it may be simple
operator error. Whatever the problem a good defence team
needs to find it and exploit it to win the case. Winning or
losing a road traffic case comes down to the lawyers
determination to investigate every angle and fight every
legal argument.
Did you know that the results of a
breath test can be challenged. The Log Book detailing all
tests that day can be examined by the defence to check for
signs of flaws or tampering. The service record for months
before and after the test can be examined. Experts can be instructed to
check the analysis machine itself and checks can be
made reading the police procedures at time of testing. We
have even had experience of an entry that had been "tippexed"
then changed. We are not advocating a "Fishing expedition"
but when our clients challenge the accuracy of a reading
then they can expect that no stone will be left unturned.
The cost of defending such a case can
be considerable and we can tell you that it will undoubtedly
run into thousands of pounds however with so much at stake
it can be worth investing that money in your defence.
Think how much could be saved over the
term of any ban. Not just the inconvenience of not having a
licence but all that depends upon it, job, mortgage,
relationships etc. Of course it is more costly to defend a case than
to plead guilty at the outset but this is because of all the extra work
and court time that will be involved. We are often asked if
pleading not guilty will attract a higher sentence if
convicted and the answer is no. You are entitled to defend
your case but what you must be aware of is that the court
will not punish you for taking a case to trial but they will
reward you for tendering an early plea. That reward does not
mean that they will reduce a mandatory minimum period of ban
but may mean that the fine imposed is less than it would
have been.
Hire the best and in our view that
means getting a specialist lawyer on board as soon as
possible.
Mistake 2-
Assuming Police Procedures Are Correct
* the correct sample
procedure was not followed.
* the results indicate that the
device was not properly calibrated
* your breath sample was
interrupted e.g. sickness
* you had something in your mouth,
such as chewing gum, tobacco etc.
* you were on a special diet.
* you have diabetes, asthma, other
relevant medical condition.
* you have ill fitting dentures.
* you had close contact in a
confined space with paint or solvents.
* you have to take
medicine on a regular basis.
* an alcohol antiseptic was used
when blood was drawn.
* an alcohol
antiseptic was used by you when washing
By not contesting the evidence
you don’t get to question the arresting officers. You will
not be entitled to say that you accept that the results are
partially correct but that they do not accurately reflect
what you had to drink. You would therefore accept whatever
the reading was and accept that all procedures were followed
properly.
Plead not guilty and a trial
is set where the defence will get the chance to interview the
police officers and examine the physical productions ALL before
you attend court. You will then have the opportunity to attack the results on
the grounds that the technical rules weren’t followed. If
your lawyer considers that all procedures were followed and
that there is no technical defence then the lawyer can have
the case brought forward to tender a guilty plea and secure
any sentence reduction for an early plea.
Mistake 3-Assuming
The Breath Analysis Machine Is Infallible
Even the Space Shuttle wasn't
infallible. My motto tends to be "Don't trust technology"-I can't think of a machine that
hasn't broken down sometime! All the defence require to do
is show the Sheriff that there is room for a "reasonable
doubt" regarding the reliability of the machine and your
licence is saved.
Laymen and even lawyers are
sometimes guilty of failing to read the piece of legislation
that the case relates too. The law in relation to drink
driving cases, of course requires to be fully understood
however all the statutes and the
regulations governing the use of technical equipment
requires to be read and understood. The lawyer needs to know
what is and what is not admissible evidence-This is not
always easy and again experience tends to be the key to
success.
Those that don’t know the laws
and regulations don’t realise that violations of the rules
introduce into evidence matters that can be suppressed
from the trial on the grounds of fairness to the accused.
Since the intoximeter devices are "type
approved" there is now a statutory presumption that they are
reliable and that they work properly. Therefore to defend
such a case you need to get copies of the various logs,
maintenance records, printout of sample taken etc. This is
not easy as the Crown will refuse to provide these documents
if they consider that this is a "Fishing expedition" where
the defence are just looking for some kind of get out!
My own view is that we should be
entitled to obtain all such documents, even if it were a so
called "fishing expedition" since this is how we the public
have any chance of establishing that the correct procedures
and proper working equipment has been used. Sadly, it
has been known for lawyers and unrepresented parties
to just have the complaint and the arrest report, this again
emphasises the need for an
experienced court solicitorto be instructed from
the outset.
Mistake 4- Not
Objecting To Evidence At The Right Time
If you do not know the law in relation
to what and how evidence is should be led, how can you possibly tender
a proper and timeous objection? If you don't get this right
you can easily be convicted before you realise the error of
your ways.
Mistake 5- Not
Checking The Locus
The lawyers call this a locus
attendance. Many people don’t visit the
arrest location. This can be crucial. In
road traffic offences we often go to the scene with our
clients to take relevant photographs, video and draft diagrams.
With the advent of Google Maps we now find that printing off
some satellite photographs can also assist the case
preparation. Police officers are often trained to refer to
the "off side" or the "nearside" when describing the vehicle
and position in relation to the offence, the accused might
say left or right and another witness might say East and
West. Thats why we always have Maps, Photographs and
diagrams. It makes
sense of all the left, right, nearside, offside, middle
and don't knows that we will have to deal with at the
trial. Drunk in charge cases can sometimes involve a piece
of land where the public do not have any right of access but
this might only become plain once the area is visited. We
tend to video the location for most cases. We had one case
where our client was found intoxicated in his vehicle in a
private field. The Crown allegation was that our client must
have been drunk in charge of his vehicle to get into the
field in the first place! What they didn't know was that he
had driven his friends to meet a helicopter in this field
and when the helicopter returned later that evening (Much
the worse for wear) he didn't feel inclined to walk home so
he slept in his car, dropped off in the field by a
helicopter.
Roadside Tests involving walking
a straight line and the like are becoming increasingly used
in Scotland. Seeing and knowing the locus allows you to
bring better cross examination to court as you can test
witnesses on true conditions that existed. e.g. sloping, ill
lit roadside that is very busy with traffic.....it may be
reasonable not to be walking on the kerb? These things makes
it much easier for your lawyer to understand and more
importantly the Sheriff to understand your concerns about
any roadside test, and, in some cases, point out a
physical impossibility to the Sheriff. We had one case where
the police officer admitted that he requested our client to
walk a straight line inches away from a dual carriageway.
Needless to say the Sheriff wasn't too impressed by this and
threw the case out.
Mistake 6- Not
Questioning Subjective Test Procedures
At the very least, the ACPO Guidelines and the police training
document should be studied by you or your lawyer. He or she
will then know exactly what questions to ask the arresting
officer to see if the police completely followed the recommended
method. We understand that in England police officers are
provided with a pro forma document to follow but in Scotland
the police rely upon their training and ACPO guidelines
where appropriate.
You see, if the manual’s
directions weren’t completely followed, the test’s validity
can be attacked. Clearly these manuals only provide a
guideline. They are not the law and you may expect any
Procurator Fiscal who is worth his salt to point out
that they are MERELY guidelines. A good defence lawyer
should be able to do a lot with the fact that these guideline
were written for a very good reason and that was to preserve
the best available evidence for the court. If the Crown are
now saying that doesn't matter then they are denigrating the
responsibility of the judge or Sheriff. Successfully
challenging such procedures therefore can win your case
sometimes without the need for you to give evidence
yourself.
The key to these tests tend to be how
objective and reliable they are. Remember that in Scotland
they are often of less importance as the officer can often
come up with just about any old excuse to claim that he or
she had a "reasonable excuse" to stop you and require a
breath sample. Presently in Scotland a debate is going on
regarding the extension of police powers to allow random
stop and test procedures. Frankly, as an experienced
criminal court practitioner (Like the Justice Minister!) I
am aware that the police can and do stop people when they
like. It is all too easy to come up with an excuse at a
later stage.
Why bother with the manual or the ACPO
guidelines if these are ONLY guidelines? Simple: if
you or your lawyer doesn’t know the training manual
intimately then how can
he cross examine effectively? How can
he stop vital prosecution evidence from coming out. It is
pretty hard to un-ring a bell.
Mistake 7- Not
Explaining The Du Plooy Discount
Your lawyer should advise you
about the sanctions resulting from a conviction as opposed
to an early guilty plea.(The Du Plooy case)
Why are these important?
If you have previously been convicted
for drink driving in the past ten years and you choose to go
to trial with a very high reading and no real defence then
expect incur the wrath of the Sheriff. A good experienced
solicitor will always know when it would be appropriate to
tender a plea, particularly if you are a border line
jail case. It might just mean the difference between your
liberty and several months in jail.
And this mistake can happen all to
often if your lawyer is rushed or is a duty solicitor with
very little time for each client. We have acted as Duty
solicitor and we know how tough it is to get through maybe
30 to 40 cases in an afternoon. Recently Duty Solicitors in
Glasgow have been dealing with even more than this number
meaning that on average each client is likely to have
approximately 2-3 minutes with the duty solicitor to prepare
a plea in mitigation that could mean the difference between
jail or freedom.
Get a specialist road traffic lawyer on
side and have him/her explain the best strategy for your
case. A face to face meeting is always best as you can
assess their level of confidence, experience and ability. To
arrange a meeting with us call 0800 612
9597 now
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