If you have been pulled over on a suspicion of drinking and driving in Arizona, an officer may perform a blood draw on you to test for either alcohol or drugs. If your blood has been drawn, the officer will obtain two vials to test by the State’s crime lab. However, whether your blood was drawn or a sample of your breath was captured, you have a right to have your blood independently tested.
Both the Constitution and Arizona Law discuss that a DUI suspect has the right to obtain an independent blood alcohol test. A driver must be allowed to counter the state’s scientific evidence of intoxication with the defendant’s own scientific evidence.
There are many challenges to a blood draw. For example, blood contamination, improper storing, incorrect labeling, improper collection, and a break in the police’s chain of custody are all ways to show that the blood evidence against you may have been compromised.
...
In Arizona, the police can impound your car up to 30 days in some DUI cases. This applies even if the owner of the car was not present when the driver was cited for the DUI. Arizona Revised Statute §28-3511 is the law that allows the police to take your car. The law allows the police to impound the car if the driver:
Arizona has harsh DUI penalties, even for first offenders. Arizona was also one of the first states to require a driver convicted of a DUI to install an ignition interlock device. If convicted with a DUI, a driver will be required to install and maintain an ignition interlock device at his or her own expense, in addition to paying fines and undergoing mandatory driving education and counseling. If you are facing a DUI charge, you should be aware of how Arizona’s ignition interlock devices may apply to you.
It may seem like there’s no hope for your DUI case: the police officers have a breath test result and its over the legal limit. However, the reality of both preliminary breath test devices and other breathalyzers is that they are often inaccurate, improperly calibrated, and, in certain circumstances, cannot be used in Court against you. This Q&A gives a quick guide on preliminary breath tests, where officers will obtain a single breath sample using a handheld breath testing device.
State of Arizona ex rel. Hamilton v. City Court of Mesa, and Real Party in Interest Lopresti, 799 P.2d 855, 165 Ariz. 514 (1990) – How the State Gets it Wrong and What Happens When the Courts Believe Them
The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
