DWI REALITY CHECK

    Lets get away from all the 'myths' for a second and think about what really happened with the events immediately before and during your DWI arrest. If your answer is 'yes' to any of the following, you may have a strong/valid defense to your Driving While Intoxicated Charge.

1. Did you not make any driving mistake at all, or only a minor driving mistake for which the officer did not issue your a ticket?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
2. Did the officer confuse fear and/or exhaustion with intoxication?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
3. Did you do well on the roadside tests?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
4. Were your field sobriety exercises conducted on an uneven, dimly lighted surface that was unprotected from the wind?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
5. Were you wearing contact lenses while taking the roadside tests?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
6. Did the glare from the officer's overhead lights make you dizzy or blind you?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
7. Were you involved in an accident?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
8. If you were in an accident, did you suffer injuries that might have caused the law enforcement officer to mistakenly believe you were drunk?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
9. Did the officers watch you AT LEAST 15 minutes before you took a breath test, or was he busy filling out paperwork, or talking to someone?
   
   [ YES ]   [ NO ]
   
   
10. Did you wear dentures during the breath test, or do you have gum disease?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
11. Were you chewing tobacco or gum during the breath test?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
12. Did you have indigestion, burp, belch, or 'spit up' in any way shortly before the breath test?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
13. Did you have only a small amount to drink and refuse to breath test?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
14. Did a jailer or someone who picked you up that night think that you looked sober?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
15. Did the patrol car's lights, or lights from on-coming traffic disorient you when you performed the field sobriety exercises?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
16. Did you have injuries or illnesses that may cause balance difficulties? (example: Hip, knee, back, joint injuries or diabetes or gum disease.)
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
17. Do you know people who would honestly testify that they were either with you or saw you shortly before your arrest and that you were fine?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
18. Were you in an accident and the airbag deployed causing you shock and possibly to ingest the powder from the airbag?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
19. Did the officer wake you from a deep sleep while you were stopped or parked?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
20. Did the officer act unprofessionally (discourteous)?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
21. Did the officer take between 40 and 82 seconds or more to perform the HGN (eye) test?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]   [ MORE ]
    
    
22. When you did the walk and turn test, did the officer use a REAL or just an imaginary line? (The standards require a LINE which the officer can draw with chalk or can draw with a stick in the dirt).
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
23. When you did the one-leg raised test, did the officer ask you to begin with your 'feet together' as opposed to beginning with your 'heels together'?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
24. Do you work around chemical solvents, paints or paint-thinners, or were you out painting that day? If so, these can often lead to 'false positive' results.
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
25. Did the officer make you 'hold your breath' for a time before blowing into the breath hose? This can 'jack-up' the breath test result considerably, and the officer probably knew it. Why did he feel this was necessary?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
26. Did you notice the lights at the jail 'flickering' at any time either before or after your breath test?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
27. Do you have a minor speech impediment or unusual manner of speech? Do you have a hearing impediment?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
28. Do you smoke cigarettes, have asthma, or allergies?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
29. Did the officer FAIL to tell you that you had a right to an independent blood test at your own expense within two hours of your arrest? If so, why did he fail to do this?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
30. Did the officer have you do the exercises beside the road even though you were over 60 or were drawing Social Security disability benefits?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
31. Did the officer have you do the exercises beside the road even though you were 30 pounds over normal weight or simply overweight for your height?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
32. Were you taking over-the-counter medications, or prescription medications that caused you an unexpected reaction? Were your actions caused by a good-faith mistake? Were the doctors and pharmacists clear about the possible reactions to the medicine?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
33. Do you take medicine to make you look, act and sound normal? Is it possible that your medicine had worn off at the time of your arrest so that you may have looked drunk?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    
34. Do you have a serious disease such as Seizures, Parkinson, M.S., or R.A. that could cause the officer to mistake your symptoms for DWI?
    
    [ YES ]   [ NO ]
    
    

EVEN IF YOUR ANSWER WAS 'YES'...

    It's a big mistake to think you can 'talk your way out' of the charges against you simply because you answered 'yes' to any of the above. Special interest groups have made negotiation in these cases with prosecutors and public officials a dismal prospect. A jury trial is your right and the best way of beating your DWI. Its always the better criminal defense tactic to 'ambush' the prosecutors with the true facts about your case rather than to give them any advance notice.