As someone who drinks and drives, you have to be aware that as the amount of car accidents and fatalities due to drinking and driving increases, so will your chances of being pulled over by the police. Police officers are cracking down on drinking and driving and will use any lawful justification to pull you over in order to probe further whether you are driving while impaired. For those of you who are over the age of 21 years, this includes operating while intoxicated or driving under the influence, which is a criminal violation for driving while having a blood alcohol level above the state-mandated level. In Michigan, for example, this is 0.08. For those of you under the age of 21 years, you face the zero tolerance laws of your state, meaning it is a criminal violation for you to drive with a much smaller amount of alcohol in your blood.
Now when most people are pulled over, their first tendency is to cooperate as much as possible with the police officer. This is good, very good! Every DUI lawyer will advise you to be polite and cooperate with the officer, such as by tendering your driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. However, the second tendency for those pulled over is to convince the officer that they should not be arrested, or convince the officer they are not impaired over the legal limit. Good DUI attorneys will tell you that this is absolutely the worst thing you can try to do because of the evidence you will end up giving the police officer. They love asking questions such as, "Where have you been tonight?", "How many drinks have you had?", "Where are you coming from?" A good DUI lawyer will always advise you NOT to answer these questions, but rather let the police officer know that you are happy to cooperate with him or her, but that you wish to maintain your right to remain silent and not self-incriminate yourself as governed by the Fifth Amendment.
Police officers ask those kinds of questions in effort build their case against you. They want you to incriminate yourself and justify why they should arrest you for drinking and driving. Police officers do not care where you came from or where you are going. They just want to see if your speech is slurred or whether you will admit to having had "3 or 4 beers" that night, because this is evidence that can be used against you at trial.
Under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, "No person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." You have the constitutional right to tell the officer that you do not wish to answer any questions as an exercise of your Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate.
If you are arrested for operating while intoxicated or another DUI-related charge, the prosecution will still have to prove you were guilty of the crime. Remember, you are innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, the less evidence the prosecution has to prove you were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the better your defense will be.
Please note that none of the above constitutes legal advice. You should consult with a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.
The GL Law Group, PLC provides free information on Michigan DUI law and guide to choosing a good Michigan DUI attorney. If you have recently been arrested for a DUI, it's important to contact a good DUI lawyer soon. A guilty DUI conviction can ruin your life. Contact us to set up a free DUI case review.