Thoroughly and aggressively defending a DUI requires knowledge of the blood alcohol science behind a DUI case. If you submitted to chemical testing of your blood or breath, your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) will be a central issue in your case.
Your BAC is a measure of how much alcohol is in your system. The number of drinks you consumed alone is not a good measure of BAC. Your BAC will depend on a number of factors, including your gender, weight, how often you drink, and whether you have eaten. Alcohol consumption affects everyone differently.
The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were intoxicated at the time of driving. A DUI attorney who is well-versed in the complexities of blood science can sometimes make it very difficult for the prosecutor to do this.
For example, some cases may be won by implementing a “rising BAC defense”. Because it takes between 45 minutes and 3 hours for alcohol to actually be absorbed into your system, your BAC may continue to rise long after you are pulled over and arrested. If you get pulled over, a chemical test of your breath or blood usually will not be performed for at least an hour after the initial contact. Thus, you may actually have been below the legal limit when you were driving.
If you suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), you may test positive on a breath test machine regardless of whether you actually have consumed any alcohol. Individuals suffering from GERD have a constant flow of alcohol which travels from their stomach to their mouth in the form of a gas. If you have GERD and have consumed a small amount of alcohol, your BAC may register on the breath test machine as being higher than it actually is.
A report from a mandatory reporter does not automatically mean a parent will be arrested, charged with a crime, or separated from a child. The report is routed to the appropriate Colorado county for screening. The county may screen it out, assign it to a family-focused or high-risk assessment track, or coordinate with law enforcement when the allegations may involve a crime or an immediate safety concern.
A preliminary hearing in Colorado is a limited court proceeding available in certain felony cases. The judge does not decide whether the accused is guilty. Instead, the prosecution must show probable cause to believe that the charged offense occurred and that the accused committed it. Although that is a much lower standard than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the hearing can give a Denver criminal defense lawyer an early opportunity
If your partner called the police during an argument and now wants the case dropped, you may assume the two of you can simply explain that to the court and move on. In Colorado, domestic violence cases do not work that way. Once police make an arrest or prosecutors file charges, the case belongs to the state, not the person who made the original report.
