A criminal lawyer in Hattiesburg MS can help someone who has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and believes that the circumstances are unusual. Sometimes a DUI arrest that involves circumstances somewhat out of the ordinary is legally allowed, but the situation may provide the attorney with more tools to fight the charge.
For example, a person may have been arrested for DUI even though he was not driving at the time. He might have parked the car and have just gotten out when an officer stopped him. He might even have still been sitting behind the wheel with the car turned off. If the officer didn’t actually see this person drive, a criminal lawyer in Hattiesburg MS may be able to have the charges dropped or the case dismissed on this technicality.
Another individual may believe that the police officer essentially made up a reason to pull him over. A criminal lawyer in Hattiesburg MS will be interested in hearing about this. Aside from scheduled special traffic stops to evaluate drivers for intoxication, officers can only arrest someone for DUI if they had a good reason to stop this driver. Usually that means the driver was traveling erratically or committed a traffic offense such as running a red light. However, it also can mean the officer notices signs of impaired judgment. A driver who stops at a flashing yellow light or a green light instead of proceeding through, for instance, is showing signs of possible intoxication. The officer signals the driver to pull over and determines whether there are more indications of intoxication, such as the odor of alcohol or slurred speech. Another legally acceptable reason for stopping this individual would be if a headlight or taillight was not functioning.
A more questionable purpose for stopping a driver might involve the vehicle having a dirty windshield or dirty headlights. Unless an officer is normally likely to stop someone for these particular details, the charge of DUI may not be admissible. A DUI Attorney at T. Michael Reed can help clients who are dealing with all these types of situations and want to know if their case can be dropped by the prosecution or dismissed by a judge.
