Defenses in an Omaha DUI Case

If you have recently been arrested and charged with an Omaha driving under the influence, or DUI, you likely already realize the negative impact a conviction will have on your life. For this reason, it is imperative that you mount a defense early on by retaining the services of an experienced Omaha DUI defense attorney. Although no two Omaha DUI cases are exactly the same, there are some common defense strategies that may be used to increase your chances of avoiding a conviction.

• The Stop. Despite  what law enforcement officers and prosecutors would like you to believe, no DUI  case is open and shut. In fact, a surprising number of SUI prosecutions have significant opportunities to defend the charges, starting with the reason for the initial stop. The law requires a law enforcement officer to have a valid reason to stop you. Officers will frequently claim that a driver was weaving or that his or her behavior was erratic. When questioned, however, an officer must usually admit that a wide variety of other causes can result in the same driving behavior. Cell phone use, for example, often causes a driver to be distracted and driver erratically.
• The FSTs. Field sobriety tests, or FSTs, can also be attacked by a good defense attorney.  Some officers cannot testify to the correct method of administering these tests. When asked questions about the FSTs using information found in their own training manuals officers are often unable to provide the correct response.
• The Chemical Test. Yet another myth is that the results of a Breathalyzer are accurate. Even when a breath test is administered properly with a machine that has been properly calibrated the results can still be higher than your actual breath alcohol content, or BAC. Moreover, even assuming the results at the time the test was given are 100 percent accurate, those results may not reflect what your BAC was at the time you were operating a vehicle, which is the relevant time period for purposes of a conviction.

Prosecutors know all of this, but juries must be educated if you wish to avoid a conviction. Educating a jury is the job of your defense attorney. If you have been arrested for an Omaha DUI, don’t let the officer or the prosecutor convince you that you don’t have a defense. Consult with an experienced Omaha DUI attorney as soon as possible. For a free case evaluation, contact Petersen Law Office 24 hours a day at 402-513-2180.

Thomas M. Petersen

Attorney Petersen was invited to join the National Advocacy for DUI Defense (NAFDD) organization in 2013. NAFDD vets thousands of lawyers and only chooses those who have achieved stellar results in DUI defense cases. Attorney Petersen was named one of the Top 50 defense attorneys in Nebraska out of more than 5,000.

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