California DUI Arrest Procedures
According to DUI Central, "Penalties for a DUI can be more extreme than for many felony offenses. And the laws defining the offense, the related procedures and the evidence have grown incredibly complex and convoluted." As a California driver, you need to know what type of infractions can get you stopped and how that stop can subsequently turn into a DUI investigation.
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Initial Stop
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If you are driving in the state of California and a police officer observes you committing a driving infraction--which can include driving with a nonworking tail light, weaving, running a stop sign, driving with an expired license tag and speeding--he will likely stop you. In essence, any small traffic infraction can trigger a DUI investigation. Once you have been pulled over, the police officer will ask for your license and registration and may make other random small talk. During this time, the police officer will be making observations. If you have slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes, a flushed face, an inability to follow directions and produce identification or the odor of intoxicants on your breath, a simple traffic infraction investigation will quickly turn into a DUI investigation.
DUI Investigation
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The police officer will ask you to step out of the vehicle. He will note how steady you are when exiting the vehicle. He will then ask you to perform a series of field sobriety tests. The most common field sobriety tests are: the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg-stand test, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test (the police officer moves a pen or finger in front of your eyes), the "modified position of attention" test, reciting the alphabet, touching the finger to the nose, rapidly touching four fingers to the thumb, and the rapidly alternating hand pat.
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DUI Arrest
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If after making these observations the police officer has probable cause to believe that you have been driving under the influence, he will arrest you. The police officer will take you down to the police station, where you will be asked to submit to a test designed to measure your blood-alcohol content. You will be booked, subjected to a custodial interrogation, and the Miranda warning must be read to you. You have the right to refuse to speak to the police without an attorney present. You also have the right to refuse a blood-alcohol test. At that point, however, probable cause will have already been established to show that you were driving under the influence of alcohol or some other intoxicant.
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