In South Carolina Dui Case Must the Officer Read Miranda Rights Before Sobriety Test

If you are facing a DUI charge in Due south Carolina, yous need to defend yourself past all means available. DUI charges carry administrative and criminal penalties, and fifty-fifty showtime-time offenders face mandatory jail time, fines, and various other consequences. The good news is that at that place are several potential defenses available; and, to find out how you lot can fight your case, you volition want to speak with a South Carolina DUI defense attorney as presently every bit possible.

How Can You Fight Your South Carolina DUI?

So, how can you fight your S Carolina DUI accuse? Hither are five examples of defenses that can be used to avoid a guilty verdict in South Carolina municipal courtroom:

1. Failure to Record Your Traffic Terminate and Breath Test

By police in S Carolina, police officers are required to video record the entirety of every DUI traffic stop they conduct. They must brainstorm recording as soon as they plough on their blue lights, and they must tape everything through the administration of the breathalyzer. If the officer who arrested y'all for DUI did not record your traffic terminate – or if the video shows that the officer failed to have all of the steps required to make a valid arrest – and so you may be entitled to a "not guilty" verdict at trial.

What is required for a "valid" arrest? At a minimum, the video recording of your DUI traffic stop must bear witness that the officer:

• Read your Miranda rights;
• Informed you that your jiff test would be recorded;
• Informed you lot that you lot had the option to pass up the breath test;
• Checked your mouth and waited 20 minutes prior to administering the breathalyzer; and,
• Conducted the breathalyzer examination consequent with standard South Carolina protocols.

At that place are a couple of exceptions to Southward Carolina'southward video recording requirement. An arresting officer is not required to record a DUI traffic stop if exigent circumstances exist, or if information technology is physically incommunicable to exercise so. However, these exceptions will not utilise in virtually cases. When you get arrested for DUI in South Carolina, your attorney can request a re-create of your abort video; and, if the video is not available, it will exist upwardly to the police and prosecutors to justify why no video exists.

2. Invalid Breathalyzer Test Results

Even if the arresting officer records your breathalyzer test, there are still various issues that could render the test itself invalid. For instance, maybe the breathalyzer device had not recently been calibrated, or maybe the officer who administered the examination was not adequately trained or did non follow the requisite procedures.

In that location are several other problems that tin lead to a "false positive" for a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above 0.08 per centum as well. Some examples of these issues include:

• Certain medical conditions, such equally diabetes
• Increment in BAC subsequently existence pulled over (such that your BAC was not above the legal limit while you lot were driving)
• Recent consumption of a coughing or cold medication
• Recent consumption of jiff mints or certain kinds of foods
• Contempo use of mouthwash

3. Invalid Field Sobriety Test (FST) Results

While drivers in S Carolina are more often than not required to submit to a jiff exam under the state's "implied consent" law, this police does not apply to the field sobriety tests (FSTs). Only, if you submit to the FSTs voluntarily (even if you were not enlightened that you lot had the option to refuse), your performance on the tests can exist used against you in court.

In gild for FST results to exist considered valid show in a DUI case, however, the arresting officer must perform the tests properly, and he or she must accurately interpret the driver's performance. From improperly describing the tasks the driver needs to perform to failing to consider alternate explanations for poor functioning on the FSTs (such equally a medical condition that impairs residuum), in that location are diverse issues that can render FST results unreliable. If your FST results are unreliable and in that location is not other evidence to testify your guilt (i.due east. if the arresting officeholder failed to tape your traffic stop), then challenging your FST results could protect you against a conviction.

4. Inadequate Evidence of Impairment

Having a BAC of 0.08 percent or above is not the only way that you can confront a DUI charge in South Carolina. If you're your "faculties to drive are materially and appreciably impaired," yous can be charged with DUI regardless of your BAC. As the South Carolina Department of Public Safety explains, "If you accept a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher, it will be inferred that you were driving under the influence. If y'all have a BAC that is at least 0.05 percent merely less than 0.08 pct, your BAC level may exist considered along with other evidence to infer that you are under the influence."

With this in listen, one way that some drivers volition be able to avoid a DUI conviction is by successfully arguing against the prosecution's allegations of impairment. If in that location is not sufficient evidence to prove that your driving faculties were macerated, then you do not deserve to be convicted at trial.

five. Violations of Your Constitutional Rights

Finally, many DUI defendants are able to avoid conviction by asserting their constitutional rights. If the police violated your constitutional rights on the road or while you were in custody, or if problems arising during your DUI case corporeality to ramble infringements, these issues may justify a motion to dismiss. Examples of constitutional violations that tin provide defenses in DUI cases include:

• Violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures
• Violation of the 5th Subpoena privilege against self-incrimination
• Violation of the Fifth Amendment protection confronting double jeopardy
• Violation of the Sixth Amendment protections confronting surprise charges and show
• Violation of the Sixth Subpoena correct to assistance of counsel
• Violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial

Learn more: What are Your Constitutional Rights After an Arrest in South Carolina?

Request a Consultation with a Rock Loma, SC DUI Defense Attorney

Are you lot facing a DUI charge in the Stone Hill, SC surface area? To discuss your example with an experienced Stone Hill DUI defence attorney, phone call 803-328-8822 or request a consultation online today.

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Source: https://www.mlblaw.com/5-types-defenses-dui-charges-south-carolina/

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