-Lots of people get arrested for
DUI where they get stopped
at a sobriety checkpoint.
And as a DUI defense lawyer,
I like these cases.
I like them for a couple
of reasons.
One is that usually there's no
evidence of bad driving.
So in a typical DUI case, a
person gets pulled over
because they're weaving in and
out of traffic or they're
driving erratically.
And, ultimately, that bad
driving is the most compelling
piece of evidence the
prosecutor has.
Because the DA can go to court
and tell the judge--
and, ultimately, the jury
if it goes to trial--
look, this guy must have been
intoxicated because he was
driving like an intoxicated
person.
But in a checkpoint case,
there's really no evidence of
bad driving.
So the most compelling piece
of evidence that the
prosecutor has in a typical
DUI case is absent.
Secondly, there's a lot of
technical legal requirements
that police have to fulfill
in operating a checkpoint.
And when they don't, we can
challenge it and usually get
the case dismissed just
on a technicality.
For example, police supervisors
have to be in
charge of the checkpoint.
And it has to be at a reasonable
time and place.
And it has to be publicly
advertised in advance.
And a lot of times, we find
the police don't do these
things correctly.
And we're able to go to court
and make what's called a
suppression motion to challenge
a checkpoint.
And we've actually gotten a
lot of cases dismissed for
just that reason.
So if you've been arrested for
DUI at a sobriety checkpoint,
we encourage you to call us
here at Shouse Law Group.
Tell us your story.
Let us investigate all
of these issues.
Many times it's possible
to get the case
reduced or even dismissed.
