An Administrative Checkpoint Must Conform to Statutory Requirements An administrative checkpoint must be obtained and implemented legally. An administrative checkpoint is a court order which allows law enforcement to stop vehicle traffic for specified purposes, always with an aim to find drivers and others who are breaking the law. In determining whether an administrative checkpoint is constitutional, the Court must…
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DUI 2
The 12 Steps of a Drug Recognition Evaluation
Only certain officers are trained in determining whether someone is under the influence of drugs. When people think about impaired driving most people think of the typical alcohol-induced DUI, but drugs are involved in almost as many impaired driving cases. There are some tests that have been developed specifically to detect the involvement of drugs in an impaired driving case.…
Arizona Supreme Court Limits Arizona’s DUI Metabolite Law
The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled on a case involving its DUI metabolite statute, a statute which is very similar to Utah’s. In Arizona v. Harris, the Arizona Supreme Court addressed whether the presence of a drug metabolite in a driver’s blood that does not cause the driver to be impaired should be illegal given the Legislature’s intent to penalize impaired…
Valid Prescriptions and DUI Charges in Utah
Driving under the influence of validly prescribed drugs is not illegal in Utah, but for whatever reason law enforcement does not always remember that. Utah Law On Driving Under the Influence of Prescription Drugs A lot of people take prescribed drugs every day. They wake up, get ready, take their prescriptions, and go to work. Each of those people is…
Refusing any DUI Chemical Test is a “Refusal” in Utah
In Utah everyone who drives a motor vehicle in the state is deemed to have given his implied consent to be subjected to a chemical test during a DUI investigation. In a Utah DUI a police officer or other law enforcement officer is likely to pull you over for some technical traffic violation such as having a tail light out.…
Man on Riding Lawn Mower Charged with DUI
You read the title of this blog correctly. This is the first we have ever heard of this but a man in Pennsylvania this week was charged with a DUI for driving a riding lawn mower while intoxicated and having an open beer on his John Deer (not sure if it was acutally a John Dee). Now as ridiculous as…
Admitting Intoxilyzer Breathtest Results in a Utah DUI
State v. Vialpando The Utah Court of Appeals decided a DUI case entitled State v. Vialpando in 2004. In that case the court set forth some standards that apply to the admissibility of intoxilyzer breathtest results. First, the state has the burden to show that the intoxilyzer machine’s results are “reliable” and it can do that by presenting evidence of the following: (1)…
Definitions of Words Relating to Utah DUI Law
Currently Utah DUI law is found in Utah Code 41-6a-501 et seq. Throughout the code relating to DUI there are certain words that have very specific definitions in how they relate to the DUI statute. Below is a list of those important words and their definitions: “Assessment” – if someone is convicted of a DUI, the code requires the judge…
Right to an Independent Chemical Test for Utah DUI Cases
A person who gets arrested for DUI in Utah is considered to have given implied consent to a chemical test to determine the blood alcohol content. Many people have no idea that the state has unilaterally applied implied consent to every single resident in and passerby of Utah. Even less people know you have right to (1) receive the results…
Warrantless Blood Draws and Utah’s Implied Consent Statute
What is Implied Consent? All 50 States have adopted implied consent laws that require motorists, as a condition of operating a motor vehicle within the State, to consent to a chemical test to if they are arrested or otherwise detained on suspicion of a drunk-driving offense in order to determine the motorist’s blood alcohol level. Utah’s implied consent law is…