Challenging Breath and Sobriety Tests Administered by Virginia Police.

Through my education and training I have learned at the breath testing machines used in Virginia do not always accurately measure the amount of alcohol in ones breath. And in addition to that I've learn that I've been able to use their knowledge in court to effectively defend my client and help them make the best out of the situation.

There are many ways to challenge a breath test result in a DUI case in virginia so you shouldn't feel despair if your breath test result happens to be .08 or more. Perhaps the officer wasn't properly trained or qualified to administer the test. Perhaps your breath test was contaminated by mouth alcohol. Perhaps there's radio frequency interference which wasn't detected by the machine. Perhaps the temperature of your breath was higher than the machine assumes that it is. Each of these things can result in this suppression or the successful challenge a breath test result in Virginia.

When it comes to field sobriety tests in Virginia theres not really any other way to say it, they're just not fair. People don't perform these exercises on a daily basis, they're not allowed to practice them when officers asked them to do it. Of course the people are nervous they just been pulled over by police officer. They might have even had a glass of wine with dinner, that doesn't make somebody drunk. Yet if you don't perform these exercises the way the officer want you to you're going to be arrested for drunk driving. No one has to stand on one leg or walk heel to toe in order to get a driver's liscense. So why is that people are arrested and deemed to be impaired when they can perform these tests?

The government's own manual addressing the proper administration of the standardized field sobriety test makes it clear that if they are not administered in the standardized fashion set forth in the manual the validity of any conclusions that you can draw from one's performance is compromised. So when we're in trial and the officer testifies that a test was administered in a certain way, when administration doesn't comply with the government regulations we can use that to challenge the conclusions that a court might draw from one's performance on these tests.