Driving Symptoms will be the first piece of evidence presented to the jury by the prosecution because these symptoms are what attracted the arresting officer’s attention in the first place. In the event that the arresting officer did not observe these symptoms because he/she might have come after an accident, then this kind of evidence win be supplied by witnesses or circumstantial inference. Many experienced prosecutors consider police testimony concerning the defendant’s driving to be the most important in obtaining a conviction. Each DUI/ DWI/ Drunk Driving case is different, but, in general, attacking the credibility of the arresting officer is not the most effective defense.

Samudrala Law‘s general Strategy to Beat Driving Symptoms is to systematically go over each observation, one at a time, and suggest reasonable explanations for the observed conduct -ones that the jury can identify with and why the arresting officer mistakenly believed that the client was intoxicated. The goal is not prove that these traffic infractions never occurred, but rather that they were not sufficient enough to indicate to the arresting officer that the defendant was a danger to others on the road, or in other words, drunk driving.

Please click on a topic below to find out more about the strategies that Samudrala Law use to beat the different types of Driving Symptoms that cue an officer to pull a driver over:

  • Proven Strategies to beat Problems in Maintaining Proper Lane Position
  • Proven Strategies to beat Speed and Breaking Problems
  • Proven Strategies to beat Vigilance Problems
  • Proven Strategies to beat Judgment Problems

PROVEN STRATEGIES TO BEAT PROBLEMS IN MAINTAINING PROPER LANE POSITION

Samudrala Law will develop through cross-examination of the arresting officer that problems in maintaining proper lane position, such as weaving, are not nearly as unusual or symptomatic of intoxication as they sound. Samudrala Law will:

  • Lead the arresting officer to admit that no driver steers a car in a perfectly straight-line, dead center in the lane.
  • Remind the jurors that even when a driver is sober, he/she is constantly correcting course with a back-and-forth motion of the steering wheel.
  • Have the defendant’s car’s mechanical condition inspected by a licensed mechanic, who may be a valuable defense witness because any mechanical problems -bent tie rods, sticky accelerator, wOrn brakes, improperly inflated tires, poor wheel alignment -could have made it hard for the defendant to maintain proper lane position.
  • Ask the officer how long he/she followed the defendant before pulling them over because the pursuit could have triggered a phenomenon called “black-and-white fever.” Black-and-white fever is the normal reaction of most drivers being followed by a marked police car, When a driver becomes aware that a police car is following, sometimes he/she may understandably become apprehensive, tense, and worried causing his/her focus to shift increasingly from the road ahead to the police car in the rear view mirror. A symptom of black-and-white fever is that a driver must constantly be correcting the course of the car back to the center of the lane, An honest and experienced officer will readily admit that this reaction is a common occurrence.

PROVEN STRATEGIES TO BEAT SPEED AND BREAKING PROBLEMS

Samudrala Law will develop thorough cross-examination of the arresting officer that speed and breaking problems are not nearly as unusual or symptomatic of intoxication as they sound. Samudrala Law will:

  • Ask the officer how long he/she followed the defendant before pulling them over because the pursuit could have triggered “black-and-white fever”
  • Establish that many speed and braking problems, such as failure to stop at a crosswalk, are common violations and not necessarily symptomatic of driver intoxication.
  • Establish that many speed and braking problems, such as the defendant having parked at a dangerous angle to the curb when they were pulled over, may be the result of the driver being very nervous and flustered not necessarily symptomatic of driver intoxication.

PROVEN STRATEGIES TO BEAT VIGILANCE PROBLEMS

Samudrala Law will develop thorough cross-examination of the arresting officer that vigilance problems are not nearly as unusual or symptomatic of intoxication as they sound. Samudrala Law will:

Establish that many vigilance problems, such as failure to pull over after the pursuing police car’s flashing red lights or sirens were activated, are increasingly common problems familiar to fire fighters and ambulance drivers as well as police officers and are not necessarily symptomatic of driver intoxication.
A driver may have seen the lights and just assumed that they were intended for someone else or that it was an emergency and he/she was to get out of the way, which the officer probably saw as weaving (problem in maintaining proper lane position) or an unsafe lane change (judgment problem).
A driver may have never heard any sirens because of the air conditioning, car stereos, and newer cars now designed to keep noise out of the cabin.
PROVEN STRATEGIES TO BEAT JUDGMENT PROBLEMS

Samudrala Law will develop thorough cross-examination of the arresting officer that judgment problems are not nearly as unusual or symptomatic of intoxication as they sound. Samudrala Law will:

  • Establish that many judgment problems, such as an improper lane change, are common violations and not necessarily symptomatic of driver intoxication.
  • Establish that driver’s familiarity, or lack of familiarity, with the roads surrounding the area of the traffic stop that could have lead to judgment problems, such as an illegal turn or driving down a one way street.