Building a Defense For Manassas DUI Drug Charges
Due to the difference in intoxication and the way it is proven in court, there are many more defenses available in most DUID cases than in a regular alcohol related DUI case. With this in mind, the following is what you should know regarding defenses in Manassas DUID cases and where to look to begin building a defense. To learn more call and schedule a consultation with a Manassas DUI lawyer today.
Common Defense Strategies in DUID Cases
The most common strategies include attacking the actual blood testing to see if the testing procedures yielded accurate results. An attorney will always look at the blood levels involved to determine whether or not the government can accurately say the person is in fact impaired because one person’s opinion on what constitutes may differ from another person’s opinion and that’s where experts can come into play.
Can The Mixing of Drugs And Alcohol Be a Factor?
Yes, if the presence of alcohol is over the presumptive level in Virginia of 0.08 it makes it easier for the government to prove their case because most prosecutors have a lot of experience with cases at that level. If you are over the legal limit alcohol wise, prosecutors may not even have to rely on drug levels but rather just prosecute under the alcohol based DUI statute.
If a person is under the legal limit for alcohol at, for example, a 0.05 or a 0.06, but there’s also drugs in their system, the government would need some sort of toxicology expert to come to court and testify if the combination of those two things in the person’s blood would lead to impairment.
Intoxication in DUID Cases
Someone may not have planned to impair himself or herself that evening, but he or she voluntarily took whatever he or she took and voluntarily drank whatever he or she drank. To say that it wasn’t intentional and therefore intent isn’t present and therefore they can’t be convicted is not an accurate statement of how the law is interpreted in Virginia. If the person voluntarily takes something, and then becomes impaired as a result of that, that’s an intentional intoxication.
In those kinds of cases, the court would say that you weren’t acting responsibly if you took something that resulted in you being impaired. There is a duty levied on each person, according to the court, to understand the potential effects of something and to that extent almost every drug that can cause impairment when mixed with alcohol will have some sort of label warning to that effect. That alerts a person that they are playing with fire if they’re mixing alcohol with that drug.
Involuntary Intoxication
An example of an unintentional intoxication might be a situation where a person is impaired by a drink that was spiked and he was unaware, or if he smoked a cigarette not knowing it was laced with some other narcotics. The main hurdle is getting adequate evidence that is reliable. They didn’t intentionally take it and then they find they’re under some sort of impairment that they did not anticipate did not bringing upon themselves.
Involuntary intoxication can be a defense, but it is extraordinarily difficult to prove. Many people believe that involuntary intoxication means that you took a pill without any idea of the effect it would have on you therefore you cannot be guilty of DUI. That is simply not the case. Every single judge in Virginia, including every single judge in Manassas, will rule that if you voluntarily took the pill, you are responsible for whatever that pill did to you, whether or not you knew of the consequences.
Will One Glass of Wine Mixed With a Prescription Drug Still Get Someone in Trouble?
A safe amount of prescription drugs mixed with one glass of wine can get someone into trouble if the government can prove that the combination led to actual impairment. It’s not enough for an officer just to say it looks like someone was impaired. It’s necessary for an expert come to court and testify what those levels actually will do to a person. In a situation where someone takes some allergy medicine with a glass of wine and is thrown off a bit more than they expected, it makes it very difficult for the government to prove anything unless they have an expert testify in court.
Importance of Hiring a Manassas Drug DUI Lawyer
An experienced DUI drug lawyer is absolutely critical if you are facing these charges because every single one of these cases will involve a blood test. Blood tests create even more pitfalls for the government than a regular DUI charge. Thus, having someone that has the years of experience necessary to know what those defenses are, what those hurdles are and how to lay them out in front of the government is necessary for any quality DUID defense.
