If you’re arrested for DUI in the Las Vegas area, you’ll probably face a misdemeanor charge. Driving under the influence is a felony in Nevada only if you already have two previous DUI convictions in the last seven years, or if you cause an injury or a fatality, or if you have a previous DUI felony conviction. If you are charged with DUI in the Las Vegas area or anywhere else in Nevada, arrange at once to speak with an experienced Las Vegas DUI defense attorney.
Throughout the United States in 2015, a number of states are tinkering with their DUI laws to make drunk driving charges just a little harsher for defendants who have previous convictions. Legislators in Colorado, for example, are considering a bill that would make the fourth DUI in a lifetime in that state a felony. In the state of Washington, lawmakers are considering making the fourth DUI in ten years a felony; the current Washington law makes only the fifth DUI in that state in ten years a felony. In Wisconsin, one state legislator is sponsoring seven different bills that would make that state’s laws drunk driving laws tougher. Costs and prison overcrowding are the only real barriers to tougher laws in most states. Probationers pay into the system, but housing prisoners is already a huge expenditure.
One law that has remained consistent in Nevada is the implied consent law. Nevada’s “implied consent” law means that simply by driving in Nevada, you have already consented to taking a DUI test if a police officer requests one. And unlike some states, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been “formally” arrested. Before or after an arrest for DUI, if you’re driving in Nevada and an officer wants to test you, refusal is against the law. If a police officer asks you to take a DUI test, cooperate. It’s the law, and your attorney can challenge the results of the test later.
DUI lawyers routinely challenge breathalyzer results, and they frequently prevail because breathalyzers are not sophisticated devices. They detect a number of chemical compounds with related chemical structures, but they can’t distinguish among those chemicals. Diabetics often have high acetone levels in their breath, and breathalyzers don’t make any distinction between alcohol and acetone. Dieting and fasting can also raise the acetone level in the breath. If you work with gasoline or paint, inhaling the fumes can create false breathalyzer readings for days. Acetaldehyde, a chemical found in bread, fruit, and coffee, also creates false breathalyzer readings, and heavy cigarette smokers are likely to have false high readings as well.
In the Las Vegas area, if you’re arrested for DUI, don’t try to act as your own attorney, and don’t plead guilty. Exercise your right to remain silent, and insist on your right to have an attorney present during any questioning. DUI defense attorneys win a large number of DUI cases for their clients in this state. If you’re charged with DUI in Las Vegas, fight the charge by getting help immediately from an experienced Las Vegas DUI defense attorney.
