Field Sobriety Testing and Implied Consent

Pennsylvania Drunk Driving Defense Lawyer

Field sobriety tests and the results of breath, blood, and urine samples represent crucial prosecution evidence that if successfully challenged by a skilled criminal defense attorney, can result in a dismissal of the charges against you. Improve your chances for avoiding a DUI conviction and contact The Law Offices of Gary E. Gerson today.

At the Law Offices of Gary E. Gerson, our lawyer has been successfully defending clients against drunk driving charges in the Pittsburgh area and throughout western Pennsylvania for more than 20 years. As a result, Mr. Gerson has a thorough understanding of how standardized and non-standard field sobriety tests should be administered and of ways that the horizontal gaze, the walk and turn, the one leg stand, and even a breathalyzer test showing a .08 BAC can be challenged.

What Happens if You Refuse a Sobriety Test

An important fact to know, even though it may well be after the fact in your case, is that you do not have to submit to any field sobriety test or give officers any information other than general facts such as your name. However, once placed under arrest Pennsylvania's implied consent law does require you to submit to an official blood, breath, and/or urine test and any combination thereof that is requested.

Refusing to take these tests results in an automatic one year suspension of your license and can be taken as evidence of your guilt at trial. Because of this, it is generally a good idea to take these tests when asked as there are still ways that their results can be successfully challenged later on.

Problems with the Field Sobriety Test and Breathalyzers

In many respects, field sobriety tests are designed to cause failure: asking someone to balance, walk a straight line toe to toe, recite the alphabet backwards, etc, can be a daunting even for a sober person. However, administering a field sobriety test and observing someone's actions can then provide "probable cause" for an arrest. In this sense, it can be a self-fulfilling proposition: if you can't perform a difficult set of physical operations, you MUST be drunk. In the case of breathalyzers, they must be calibrated correctly in order to register accurate blood alcohol count. Additionally, how hard one blows into one can also artificially inflate results.

As your attorney, Gary E. Gerson exposes mistakes in administering field sobriety tests and in the calibration of breathalyzers. Mr. Gerson presents these issues at trial and may be able to reduce or dismiss the charges against you.

DWI arrest? Call attorney Gary E. Gerson toll free at (800) 514-1660 today for an experienced and aggressive defense of your rights.

To learn more about Pennsylvania's implied consent law and how evidence can be effectively challenged in DUI cases-contact The Law Offices of Gary E. Gerson in downtown Pittsburgh to schedule a free initial consultation.