One of the things that people always ask me when they find out what I do is, “What should I do if I’m pulled over?”. In Arizona today, the enforcement of DUI’s has become an obsession that often leads to innocent people being arrested. We know this, because one of the pieces of information that we get in all of our client’s casesis a results page. We will often see that a huge percentage of people whose blood was tested along with our client’s is either zero or significantly below the legal limit. That equates to dozen’s innocent people being accused, arrested, and forced to have a cop (with less than a week’s training) draw their blood every night. So the question asked is certainly a valid one. The answer is “immediately”. You are always allowed to consult with an attorney. You are however, required to affirmatively request one. Ambiguous references to an attorney do not suffice. So don’t ask, “Should I get a lawyer?”, or “Maybe I should have a lawyer here”. What one must do is unequivocally proclaim their desire to consult counsel. Many unscrupulous officers will advise you that you don’t have that right at this point, and that you must balance or dance for them roadside. They are not being entirely forthright with you. From the second that the officer treats you like you are accused of DUI, it is well advised to firmly but politely insist on speaking with counsel before completing any exercises or answering any further questions. If you ever find yourself in that unfortunate situation you can contact us 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week.
