A Chantilly DUI defense lawyer may begin to build a defense for second offense DUI charges the same way they would for first offense DUI charges. They look for every step of the process that brought their client into contact with the police officer and the type of contact that they had after that. This initial information can be analyzed carefully and will begin the process for challenging the charges.
Attorneys will likely want to best understand what behavior or alleged driving behavior brought their client into contact with the police, and what caused the police offers to stop them to begin with, them into contact with the police officers to begin with. They can look at whether or not there is reasonable suspicion that their client was committing a crime that allowed the police officers to come into contact with them to begin with before charging them with their second offense DUI in Chantilly.
From there, an experienced attorney can examine instances like the interaction between the officer and their client and determine whether their client had any observable behaviors that might have led the officer to think that they were under the influence. More helpful investigations will be whether their client exhibited any behaviors that would lead the officer to think they were not under the influence and then their attorney can weigh those two together along with any field sobriety test results and any breathalyzer results.
An attorney in Chantilly can then look at whether or not overall there is enough evidence for the police officer to arrest their client and can try to challenge the arrest. After that, they can look at any kind of observable behavior at the station and what the blood alcohol level was that was recorded there, if at all. A lawyer can uncover whether or not that machine was used correctly to determine the blood alcohol level of the individual, or whether or not the machine itself had a malfunction and they will attack each step of the process.
Defending a second offense DUI in Chantilly is sometimes a more in-depth process than defending a first offense DUI, because there is often more at stake. Second offense DUIs tend to have higher penalties attached to them even without blood alcohol level getting heightened, which would add to another mandatory minimum.
A second offense DUI is going to have either 10 or 20 days that a person would automatically face if they are convicted, depending on whether it was within five years or within 10 years. These mandatory minimum days are not something that the judge can waive or that the prosecutor can waive.
Many times, the fact that they are taken much more seriously and there is a much harsher penalty will cause an attorney’s strategy to change a little. Sometimes it makes sense in a case where the facts are heavily against their client, and it is clear that they would be found guilty if they were going to trial to make a deal with the prosecutor where the prosecutor amends it to a first offense DUI to avoid their client from facing the mandatory minimums associated with the DUI. For second offense DUI in Chantilly, it is a good idea to look at taking a plea deal to avoid the heightened jail time that can come along with second offense DUIs.