Cleveland DUI Defense Lawyer

Proudly Serving Clients Throughout Cuyahoga County

Having one too many and getting behind the wheel of the car can lead to serious DUI charges. A DUI conviction can lead to the loss of your driver’s license, higher insurance costs for years to come, large fines, and a lasting mark on your criminal record. If you don’t take action, you could even have to spend time in jail. To avoid these and other negative consequences of a DUI conviction, you need to fight back with confidence.

Your future is on the line. Call or fill out our online contact form today to speak to a knowledgeable DUI defense attorney in Cleveland.

DUI Defense Strategies

If the arresting officer, the equipment used, or any other factor related to your DUI arrest and breath test evidence do not match up with expected standards, then it may be possible to get your case dismissed or your charges seriously reduced. Common defense strategies for DUI/OVI cases include the following:

Reason for the Stop

Before the officer pulled you over to investigate a potential DUI, they needed to have a good reason to do so. Rolling over the double-yellow line while driving or failing to use a turn signal could have been that good reason. If the defense team can demonstrate that you were never driving unsafely before being stopped, it may be possible to get the case dismissed.

SFST and Breath & Blood Test Errors

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) created a number of standardized field sobriety tests (FSTs). The NHTSA also provides a detailed list of instructions that police officers must follow to conduct the FSTs correctly. If the tests were conducted improperly, as determined by deviation from NHTSA-instructed guidelines, then the evidence obtained through the tests may be inadmissible and disregarded. Breath and blood tests, as well as breathalyzer machines, can also produce errors that make them inaccurate, like having a preset margin of error that should be subtracted from results but was not by the crime lab that used the machine.

Improperly Handled Evidence

The prosecution team bears the burden of proving guilt. If any thread in their case is weak, it could unravel in front of themselves. We regularly use the discovery process to confirm the validity of every piece of evidence used by the prosecution. If your blood sample was mixed up with another person’s sample at the crime lab, for example, then we can file a motion to suppress that evidence from being used against you.