Driving Under Influence

All DUI and Drunk Driving Charges allege that a person is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while “under the influence.” Most people think that if they are “under the legal limit” they can’t be charged with a DUI offense. Unfortunately for those people, they are incorrect. While the law presumes that a person is “under the influence” if a blood, breath or urine test taken within two (2) hours of driving shows them to be over the legal limit of .08%, a person can still be convicted of driving under the influence even if there blood or breath alcohol concentration is under that amount.

When determining if someone is “under the influence,” the Judge (in a misdemeanor case) or the Jury (in a felony case) can consider many different things in determining if a person is impaired, or driving under the influence. They will look for things such as pattern of speech, driving performance, appearance, emotional state and scoring on field sobriety tests in order to determine if a person is intoxicated. Law enforcement officers are taught to observe and document in reports virtually everything they see from the moment they come into contact with the driver of a vehicle until they are released or booked into the jail.