Dui First Offense In Colorado
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Does anyone know how to get out of this DUI case?
Here's the deal:
1. drank 3 sips liqor at a party
2. im under 21
3. fled from 4 men, 87mph in 50mph
4. chose not to take voluntary breath test
5. no accident, deaths or injuries from my actions/ but refusal in colorado means i get arrested for suspicion of dui-
6. this is my first offense. charged with suspicion of DUI
7. - and i asked to take the test once i got to the station and he said it is an automatic refusal to comply-
Has anyone had a story similar to this? I was scared that the 3 sips would show in the breath test so Does anyone know a loop hole in the system and get me off please? please help, im really scared...
In CO you will actually be facing two separate legal issues;
1 is a DMV issue in which DMV decides what happens to your license, issue 2 is the actual criminal charge of DUI.
If you would have taken the test there are a few "loopholes' depending on the manner of how the test was administered that you may have been able to work. However, by refusing you effectively shut those loopholes. 3 "sips" of liquor would have produced zero result on either a blood or breath test, you would have walked...but that's now behind you.
Colorado has an Expressed Consent Law. This basically means that by driving a motor vehicle and having a driver's license you have expressly consented to having your BAC level taken through either blood or breath test at the request of a police officer. Refusal to take either test, or refusal to choose, results in DMV automatically revoking your driver's license for 12 months (as opposed to the typically three suspension for a 1st time DUI or DWAI).
When you were arrested you should have had your driver license taken from you and a DMV revocation form issued. This form explains how within a certain number of days you can request a DMV hearing. At that hearing it will just be the hearing officer, you, your attorney (if you have one) and the responding police officers. The proceeding is relatively informal; basically the officer tells why he pulled you over, why he thought you were drunk and what the result was of the blood/breath test or whether you refused. You will be given an opportunity to speak. But if the officer had reasonable suspicion to pull you over, probable cause to believe you were DUI (ie smell of an unidentified alcoholic beverage on your breath etc) and you refused a test, you will not get out of it. The hearing officer will then make a decision right there and then reference your license. In 5 years I have yet to hear of a DUI driver ever winning a DMV hearing...
The criminal side of the DUI will be more protracted. You refusal to take the test will be admitted as evidence of your guilt. Typically I see attorneys trying to attack the legal basis of the stop, ie saying the officer had no legal basis to stop you, and thus there was no reason to suspect you were DUI, and thus no reason for a chemical test. This is only way to suppress the fact that you refused a chemical test.
DA has to prove the same 3 things as the officer at the DMV hearing; officer had reasonable suspicion to contact you, probable cause to believe you were intoxicated (ie DUI) and that you refused the test. In order for you to "get out of this" you have to introduce reasonable doubt into one of these 3 issues.
If I were you at your first court date I would sit down with the baby DA and ask about what plea deal they are willing to offer. Assuming you have a clean criminal history and limited driving issues, you may
actually get a decent plea, ie driving classes, small fine and probation. Alternatively you can gamble on the 2% probability of been found not guilty at trial. Not good odds...if you are found guilty at trial (which is more than likely) the baby DA will demand the maximum, ie jail time etc.
Good luck.
US $3.89
