When a Chantilly officer is looking to pull somebody over for a possible DUI, they are going to look for anything that will give them reasonable suspicion that somebody was committing a crime. For DUI purposes, that reasonable suspicion can be found by an individual swerving or weaving, or slowing down or speeding up on the road, which would elicit an officer to conduct a DUI stop.
If you are pulled over and suspected of being under the influence, it is imperative you get in touch with an experienced attorney to protect your rights and begin building a defense.
Officers are free to pull somebody over under suspicion of any crime, even if the behavior they see does not rise to the level of necessarily reasonable suspicion for DUI. However, if they see a brake light out or they have some other independent reason to pull them over, an officer is allowed to pull somebody over and investigate them for DUI should they smell the alcohol or then see any of the other physical signs of impairment exhibited by the driver.
A typical DUI stop process in Chantilly usually comes with an officer alerting the individual they are trying to pull them over, meaning they turn on their lights and sometimes their siren.
The individual pulls over to the side of the road, the officer will come up and ask the individual for the license or registration and purchase insurance. At which point in time, the officer is going to be observing the individual and their response to the questions that were asked. They will be looking at if the individual smells like alcohol, admits to drinking alcohol, or is able to use their motor skills.
They will see if they are turning on and off their lights in their vehicle and if they are able to hold the license they are handing over to the officer. There are many things the officer is going to be observing after the DUI stop in Chantilly that could lead them to charge somebody.
The officer is going to want to perform field sobriety tests during the DUI stop. Field sobriety tests are tests that are standardized nationally by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, also known as NHTSA, and these field sobriety tests are designed to provide observable measures of behavior that would indicate that somebody is under the influence.
A person may be asked to blow into a Preliminary Breath Test, so they can get the blood alcohol sample from them. There are other main ones that are approved and standardized by NHTSA, such as the walk-and-turn, the one-legged stand, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. Officers in Chantilly sometimes use other tests, such as the alphabet test or the finger touch test.
Sometimes they ask individuals to count or do things that are not necessarily approved or standardized by NHTSA, but they are things that the officers think will help decide whether or not this individual is under the influence or not.
The general step-by-step process for a DUI stop is that first, the officer is going to stop someone, and they are going to ask for their license, registration, and proof of insurance. They may ask some general questions, such as if they have been drinking , where they are coming from, and where they are going to. During this process, they are going to be observing whether or not they are under the influence.
They are going to be observing the person’s physical behaviors, such whether or not they have bloodshot eyes, are slurring their words, are understanding the questions that are posed to them, and whether or not they are able to give them responses that makes sense.
After they do this initial interaction, they are going to go back to their vehicle and run their information. They will do this for a few reasons, primarily to see if there is any warrant or anything else for their arrest, or to see if they have been charged in the past with things like a concealed weapon, or if there is any safety issue they should be aware of.
They will also see whether or not they have a history of drunk driving, and then they will come back and will probably ask them step out of the vehicle, at which point they will ask them to perform field sobriety tests. In order for someone to properly understand their rights during an intimidating DUI stop in Chantilly, they need a skilled attorney by their side.