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Are you facing charges for driving under the influence? DUI and DWAI cases can be complex, stressful, and emotionally taxing. Don’t attempt to handle yours on your own. You need a DUI lawyer who is intimately familiar with Colorado’s DUI and DWAI laws and can hold authorities accountable for their legal errors. You need a warrior on your side who can fight to ensure that your constitutional rights are protected.
Attorney Kevin Cahill at the Law Office of Kevin Cahill has over a decade of experience and has handled thousands of cases. He is ready to defend you.
Speak with a Denver DUI lawyer from the firm by calling (720) 548-2990 or submitting an online contact form. Your initial consultation is FREE!
Colorado Revised Statutes 42-4-1301 enumerates two instances when a person may be charged with drunk driving.
One way a person could be charged is if they drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (DUI). Driving under the influence means that the consumption of alcohol and/or drugs compromised a person’s normal faculties to the extent that their ability to safely operate their car was substantially altered. If a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was at or above .08 when they were driving or within 2 hours of their arrest, they are considered to have committed a DUI.
The other way a person can face drunk driving charges in Colorado is if they drvive while their ability was impaired (DWAI). This differs from a DUI in that a person is considered impaired if the level of alcohol and/or drugs in their system made them less capable to safely operate their vehicle than a driver ordinarily would have. A BAC between .05 and .08 can serve as evidence that the defendant was driving while impaired.
Regardless of the offense you have been charged with, Denver DUI lawyer Kevin Cahill will fight hard for you.
Although a DWAI is perceived to be a lesser crime than a DUI, both are misdemeanors. And while they carry similar penalties, they are not the same.
Under CRS 42-4-1307, the potential conviction penalties for a first offense are as follows:
Whether you’ve been charged with a DUI or DWAI, your reputation, livelihood, freedom, and personal relationships are on the line. That is why it is vital to have an experienced Denver DUI lawyer on your side.
The law is designed to protect people’s rights, even those convicted of a crime. However, law enforcement officials, like police officers and district attorneys, have a duty to send criminals to jail. In their attempts to make their jobs easier, they might use manipulative tactics, threats, and a person’s inexperience with the law to get the evidence they need.
Unlike many other types of crimes, DUIs and DWAIs are usually based on the arresting officer’s opinion. The officer uses his or her judgment to determine whether probable cause existed to pull you over or to subject you to a sobriety test. If you refuse to take a sobriety or chemical test, the officer might decide that you are admitting consciousness of guilt. However, if you submit to a breath or blood test, the results might not be in your favor.
Fortunately, a failed breath or blood test does not necessarily mean a DUI or DWAI conviction is inevitable. Kevin Cahill, a DWAI and DUI lawyer in Denver, has the skill and knowledge to help challenge the legitimacy of such tests and the reliability of the results. He knows how to use the available evidence in your favor and can levy his vast experience to demonstrate that results were improperly obtained, there was a problem with the testing machine, or the officer made an unlawful stop.
When you turn to Denver DUI lawyer Kevin Cahill, he will analyze each layer of your case.
His approach begins by asking the following questions:
Even the smallest details in a DUI/DWAI case in Denver can mean the difference between a conviction and walking free. A knowledgeable DUI attorney can recognize procedural errors and constitutional violations that may have occurred in your case and work to protect you from an unfairly determined verdict. Kevin Cahill understands that Colorado’s laws are complex and multifaceted. He will investigate every inch of your case to identify missteps. One of the most detrimental things you can do for yourself is to give up and accept the DUI charge.
Effective defense strategies used in Colorado DUI cases include, but are not limited to:
Police officers can’t pull someone over without probable cause that a traffic law or other law has been violated. A good DUI attorney in Denver will start by examining the constitutionality of the stop. In Colorado, an officer cannot pull a person over for weaving within their lane or as a response to an anonymous tip that the person was drinking and driving. If the officer didn’t have probable cause to stop the driver, evidence obtained in their case may be dismissed.
Field sobriety tests, like the walk-and-turn or the one-leg stand, are often inaccurate. They may not determine the sobriety of someone who is injured, over 65 years of age, overweight, or has a special medical condition. Additionally, the government does not recognize tests such as counting backward or touching your nose to be valid. If the arresting officer used any of these tests to determine inebriation, the results might be declared inaccurate or invalid.
A single breath test is not often enough to prove inebriation, as outside factors can sway results. Similarly, if any officer administers the test improperly, the results may be deemed invalid and dismissed.
Kevin Cahill can investigate the legitimacy of a breath or blood test. By examining the logs and records, he may be able to uncover indications that the machine was malfunctioning. Kevin Cahill can also question whether the person administering the test had sufficient training and whether the tests were conducted reliably.
If police officers or lab specialists did not handle your blood samples properly, it’s possible it may have been contaminated. If this can be proven in court, the results may be declared invalid.
Often, arresting officers will cite red eyes or slurred speech as evidence the driver was intoxicated. If these conditions were actually symptoms of a medical condition, that information might cast doubt on the prosecutor’s case.
Under federal law, police must abide by very strict rules when operating DUI checkpoints. If it can be proven that the arresting officer failed to follow these rules, the charges may be dropped entirely.
An officer may not search a car without the driver’s consent or probable cause. Doing so is arguably a violation of Fourth Amendment Rights, which protect people from illegal searches and seizures. Demonstrating that such has occurred in a DUI case can result in all evidence gathered through the search to be thrown out of court.
It doesn’t matter if you just had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner or took a few puffs of marijuana at a concert, Colorado courts will take your DUI or DWAI case very seriously. If you were charged, get started on your case as quickly as possible. A conviction can result in incarceration, a fine, loss of driver’s license, and a permanent stain on your record. These matters require immediate and aggressive action. Denver DUI lawyer Kevin Cahill will work tirelessly to defend your rights.
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