In California, the legislature has determined that you can be charged with a DUI if you drive with an alcohol content of 0.08 or greater. The other way to be charged with a DUI is if you have alcohol in your system and you cannot safely operate a motor vehicle.
Whether you can safely operate a motor vehicle is determined by whether you can pass a field sobriety test administered by the police. It's also determined by how you were driving, walking, and speaking. Please contact our Los Angeles DUI lawyers to look over your case.
Suppose you've been pulled over on suspicion of DUI in Los Angeles County. In that case, the police will start asking you questions to determine whether or not you are intoxicated or unable to drive safely.
They will smell your breath to see if they smell alcohol, but they will also directly ask you whether or not you have been drinking. Most people will tell the police they have had a few drinks. At that point, the officer will ask you to exit your vehicle, and they will begin conducting the field sobriety tests.
If the officer has a preliminary alcohol screening device (PAS), then they are probably going to have you blow into that because they don't want to waste a trip to the police station. If they ultimately determine that you are unable to operate a motor vehicle because of your alcohol content safely, then they are going to arrest you and take you to do a breath or blood test.
The officers are going to be looking for signs of intoxication. They are going to see if you can follow their instructions, and they will check your pupils for dilation or bouncing. They will usually have you walk in a line and then take nine steps forward and nine steps back.
They will have you tilt your head back and touch your nose, and they may also ask you to recite the alphabet backward. During all of these tests, they will evaluate you for signs of intoxication. As you can see, this is a very subjective evaluation, and sometimes, the police are not perfectly accurate.
Am I Required To Perform The Field Sobriety Tests?
You are not required to submit to the preliminary alcohol screening or field sobriety tests. If the police determine that you may be intoxicated and cannot safely operate a motor vehicle, then you are going to have to submit to a blood or breath test.
If you refuse, you can lose your license for one year, and there will be a presumption that you cannot safely operate a motor vehicle. So, refusing the blood or breath test is a wrong move.
Once you have been taken to jail, you can bond out if they put a bail on the case. However, if you did not get in an accident or hurt anyone, you should wait until the police test you and cite you. They will usually cite you once they determine you are safe to return to the street.
Their biggest concern is that they will let you out while you are still intoxicated and that you will end up behind the wheel again. If that happened and you were to injure or kill someone, then they would be held responsible for that.
So, even if you bond out, the police are probably going to make you wait to ensure that the alcohol has left your system. They often have defendants perform additional breath tests before allowing them to leave the station. If you have been charged with felony DUI, you may have to bail out.
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