What Happens If Someone Is Pulled Over For Prescription Medication DUI?
Are People Generally Surprised When They Are Charged With The DUI Stemming From The Prescription Medications, Whether They Were Taking It “Properly” Or Not?
In these cases, the split in that with clients is whether or not it’s their prescribed medications. People that are taking drugs illegally generally know that they’re not supposed to be doing that and know that if they’re caught driving and they’re physically impaired from it, then they’re in trouble with the law.
People that are taking their prescribed medications from the doctor, what often happens is they take one in the morning before the breakfast, they forgot they took it and then they take another one and end up too much of it in their system, and they’re generally surprised. The first response will be, “Well, I have a prescription for that.”
Although you legally take it, if you’re having a reaction and you’re taking too much of it and you’re driving badly, that can lead to an arrest.
There are certainly some defenses that can be raised if it’s a first-time reaction, there is a potential Men’s real issue or if there is an honest mistake of taking too much by accident, those are mitigating factors, and depending on the judge or a prosecutor can rise to the level of defense.
What Exactly Happens Once An Officer Has Determined That The Impairment Is Not Due To Alcohol? Do The Field Sobriety Tests Come Into Play?
Again, because the driving while impaired by prescription medications or CDS (Controlled Dangerous Substances) is sort of an up and coming area of criminal law, there is considerable variety in what tends to go down. Often, they’ll give the field sobriety tests to get a sense of what the person’s physical capabilities are.
They’ll look for drugs, they’ll call the K9 Unit. If they think they have the drug impairment case that’s not including alcohol, they’ll get on the phone and see if they can get a drug recognition expert either at the scene or they’ll make the arrest and then get them to the station to do an evaluation. At that stage, they may press for a blood test.
Can Someone Refuse To Take A Blood Test? Is That Generally The Type Of Test They’ll Do In These Cases?
Certainly, in alcohol cases, it can enforce that issue but it usually doesn’t happen when someone refused to take the blood test. The answer is that they cannot force that.
When Someone Is Pulled Over By An Officer And They’ve Been Taking Their Medication Right, Should They Be Open And Honest And Tell The Officer About The Medication?
The general advice is that when a person finds himself the target of a criminal investigation or inquiry, the smart thing to do is to exercise their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The reason for that is that they’re all by yourself.
Oftentimes, officers will misunderstand what people say, they’ll misremember what they said or sometimes officers don’t tell the truth. After you get counsel, if there is a viable defense, it’s not uncommon for the attorney to go with the client and meet with law enforcement and talk to them.
Then you have an attorney that is an officer in the courtroom, who can verify whether statements were made or not and what statements were made and this often is going to be on tape. So, there is no question about the he-saidshe-said they-said problem.
The second thing that a person should do is exercise their Sixth Amendment right to an attorney, “I am going to exercise my Fifth Amendment Right to remain silent and I am exercising my Sixth Amendment Right to an attorney”. The police aren’t going to be happy about that, but that’s a smart thing to do.
If you need more information on what to do When Pulled Over For Prescription Medication DUI, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking talk Arnold F. Phillips by calling today.