Rhode Island – Driving Under the Influence Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you’ve arrived at my website, the chances are that you, (or a friend or loved one) has been arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence and/or Refusing a Chemical Test. There is no doubt that being arrested for Driving Under the Influence and/or Refusing a Breathalyzer stirs up all sorts of emotions, including anger, fear, shame and worry. All of these emotions are normal reactions to being arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence and/or Refusing a Chemical Test.

In fact, I’m willing to bet that the experience went a little something like this . . .

Your heart jumps to your throat and that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach hits you like a punch. You glance back in the rear view mirror and you confirm your worst suspicions; those flashing blue lights are following you.

In an instant your mind begins to race and you lose focus. What now? As reality crashes into your consciousness and your heart races, your palms begin to sweat and you start wondering where you left that registration and proof of insurance.

Before you know it, the officer has turned on his flood lights and your car is doused in a bright hot spotlight. As you begin to think of what you’re going to say, you realize that unless you’re really lucky, you might be in serious trouble.

That’s when the doubts start to creep in. Have you had too much to drink? You didn’t think so, but what you think no longer matters. Now you have to convince the officer that you’re fine to drive your car. Can you do that? What if you can’t? Will you go to jail, lose your license or lose your job? And what will your family and friends think? How do you deal with the embarrassment, the shame or the humiliation and the penalties?

Before you can even begin to formulate an answer to these questions, the officer is at your window. He asks for your license and registration. As you hand them to him he asks where you’ve been and if you’ve been drinking. How do you answer?

Unprepared, you don’t know what to say because nothing like this has ever happened to you. Whatever you said didn’t work because now he asks you to step out of the vehicle. You know things just got worse. Time speeds up and you begin to think, “How am I going to get out of this”?

A moment later the officer is showing you how to perform some “routine” tests. You follow the instructions as best as you can.

First the officer has you walk a straight line. Phew! You didn’t fall so you must’ve passed the test. Next the officer has you stand on one leg. You didn’t fall so you’re two for two. Finally, the officer has you follow a pen with your eyes. You did that with no problem. Suddenly, you’re feeling a little more confident. Those tests weren’t so bad. You tell yourself that he’s probably going to let you go.

Then he tells you to turn around and face his cruiser with your hands behind your back. You think . . . What? Didn’t I just pass his tests? How can he be doing this?

As you begin to protest he tells you that you’re under arrest for suspicion of Driving Under the Influence. How can that be? Sure, you had a few drinks, but you were driving safely and you passed all of his tests. How can this be happening?

Now you’re handcuffed behind your back, jammed into the backseat of his cruiser and on the way the police station. Like most people, you’d do almost anything to get out of this mess. But what can you do?

At the station, the officer asks you a whole bunch of questions that you can no longer remember. But you answered them!

Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? You’re a good person and you’ve always had respect for law enforcement. You wanted to show the officer that you’re a good person, that nothing like this has ever happened, and if he’d just give you a break you’d never get in trouble again.

As you’re wondering if this is really happening he reads a really long form. You heard something about your rights, but you really don’t know what any of it meant. Then you get to make a call. Who do you call? Who could help?

Suddenly, the officer asks you to take a breath test. Now what? Should you take it or should you refuse? This can’t be happening! But it is. Now, what can you do about it?

The next day you feel about as low as possible. You’re afraid, embarrassed, confused and lost. You on a dangerous journey and you don’t know what to do. And time is running out on you to figure it out. When you look at the paperwork given to you by the police, you realize that you have only a few days to figure out what to do.

Here’s what you should do; hire an experienced survival guide to get you through this journey. You need an experienced attorney to protect your rights, your family and your freedom. By visiting this site you have started that process.

In the pages of this Driving Under the Influence website, you are going to learn about:

The Three stages of a DUI case,

Everything that goes into the Pre-Arrest Stage of a DUI case,

The Purpose of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests,

The Walk and Turn Test,

The One Leg Stand Test,

The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test,

The (Un)Reliability of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests,

Why Preliminary Breath Tests are not reliable,

Everything that goes into the Arrest Stage of a DUI case,

The (In)Accuracy of a Breath Test,

What it means to go through a DUI Arraignment,