Law enforcement is required to have lawful grounds for pulling you over on suspicion of DWI. You cannot be stopped on a hunch or at random—police need a good and justifiable reason to suspect you are intoxicated. Police will need to witness signs of intoxication in your driving to have probable cause to stop you.
Possible signs include:
- Unusual driving behavior
- Ignoring traffic signs
- Excessive speed
- Driving with no headlights on
- Swerving between lanes
If you are stopped by police, you need to know and exercise your rights. The reason law enforcement stops you needs to be legitimate and lawful. They should be able to articulate the facts and the inferences they deduced from these facts to determine you committed a crime or were about to commit one. No one can be stopped without a reason: police may not stop your car at random or “cherry-pick” you by waiting outside a bar to pull drivers over who are leaving.
In the event that law enforcement did not have probable cause to stop you, any evidence found which led to your DWI arrest could be thrown out and deemed inadmissible.
You have Rights worth Defending
When charged with DWI, the odds may appear to be against you, but you have a right to a defense. A skilled New York criminal defense attorney by your side can argue on your behalf and challenge your DWI stop. If your stop can be successfully contested, the prosecution may not have the evidence to charge you and thus no argument.
Call our Queens criminal defense firm today and discuss your case with Musa-Obregon Law PC!