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How to win a DUI Case in San Diego
First things first. Focus on the Officer’s Testimony. 90% of all DUI cases are won at the motion hearing stage. If you plan on winning a DUI case you must file a winning suppression motion. Do not think that your testimony will be more believable than the officer’s testimony. That is a fundamental flaw to say the officer was lying. The only way is to point out how the officer is lying. You need to hire an experienced DUI Defense attorney to illustrate how this is accomplished.
I am going to provide you an example where a client comes into the office and says I was driving completely fine and the officer was following me for a mile before he pulled me over. The officer’s testimony is that he pulled the client over because he was swerving between lanes. Client says that is a lie. Don’t be fooled! An officer will never say sorry for lying on the stand. This is how an experienced criminal and DUI defense attorney separates himself from the rest of the lawyers out there in San Diego.
The credibility of the officer can be attacked in various ways but I will provide you this example. The officer says that the client was swerving three times for about the two minutes he was following the client. The officer says client was going 50 miles per hour and the three times client swerves occurs 10 to 15 feet each time before returning to the center of the lane. The weaving was very noticeable and was equally spaced apart between the two minutes of observation. The suppression motion appears unwinnable on its face based on the officer’s testimony. However, the way I win these suppression motions on lack of probable cause of weaving is simple.
I discredit the officer without having to get into the dreaded credibility contest. The technique I use is to determine the speed in feet per second. This technique pins the officer against scientific fact. The formula is to determine speed in feet per second per mile per hour is as follows:
- There are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour.
- Therefore: 60 H 60 = 3,600 seconds in an hour.
- There are 5,280 feet per mile.
5280 feet / 3,600 seconds = 1.4666 feet per second (or, about 1.5 feet per second).
At 50 miles per hour the defendant would have to be traveling 75 feet her second (1.5 feet per second X 50 miles per hour). Given this information the client must be weaving .2 seconds before straightening out. If equally spaced out over two minutes that would mean every 60 seconds or every 4,500 feet for .2 seconds. Any judge would understand that it does not sound reasonable based on the officer’s testimony. This is the way you attack an officer. You never call them a liar. You show them how their testimony does not work based on science.
If you have any questions about how to win your DUI case in San Diego, please feel free to contact an experienced DUI specialist at 619.405.0063 or visit the website San Diego Criminal Lawyer
