Los Angeles DUI Lawyer Blog
There is a well-known expression that perception is reality… what does that mean?sThis phrase as many different applications and contexts. The scope of this blog is to try and explain that being arrested for a driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs carries with it many negative connotations. For example, the term drunk driving gives the impression that the person arrested was in fact drunk. In fact, the law does not require a driver to be drunk, but merely to be driving a motor vehicle with a .08% of alcohol in their bloodstream.
At a trial of a DUI case, prosecutors and even judges present police officers, and their statements as impartial, and unbiased parties. In fact, police officers have an agenda, and that is to build a case against a driver to support their impression that they have been violating the law by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They are not neutral, and their observations are colored by their own perception, and by their own need to support their opinion that this driver has broke the law.
Clients of our lawfirm of DUI defense attorneys, frequently our surprise when we are reviewing the air police reports of their arrest, of how negatively they are portraying by their arresting officers.
It’s quite interesting, then only negative conduct by the driver is reported and noted, when any positive conduct is rarely documented. For example, almost all police reports describe the driver as smelling of alcohol, having red, bloodshot and watery eyes. Slurred speech, lack of coordination or balance. Good performance for example, on field sobriety tests, is rarely reported.
Fast forward to the courtroom where your Los Angeles DUI case is being heard. Picture the only information about you case # xxxxxxx being a 100% negative report written by the police officers. They are in lies the problem of how to change this image.s
An essential component of our defense strategy on every DUI case is to request that our clients complete a written explanation of the events of the night they were arrested. We also request lines to provide as within work resume, letters of reference or recommendation, and any other positive information about who they really are.
Presenting this positive information to the prosecutor has a powerful effect on demonstrating a more fair and balanced account of what happened the night that they were arrested. It is essential to show the prosecutor a more accurate and fair picture of what really happened.
This legal strategy, called mitigation, is critically invaluable to educate the prosecutor and judge to see our clients in a much more positive lights, thus achieving a much more favorable result.