MARYLAND "SCIENCE" OF DUI & DWI REVISITED BY THE DEFENSE: "U.S. Super Lawyer," Maryland "BEST 10" DUI & DWI Attorney [AIDUIA]

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Premier Maryland criminal defense attorney Charles Jerome Ware is ranked and recognized by his many satisfied clients as well as his legal peers as, among numerous other awards and accomplishments, as one of the State of Maryland's "10 BEST" DUI and DWI Attorneys, as well as a "U.S. Super Lawyer" [AIDUIA].  For an initial courtesy consultation, call defense attorney Charles Ware at (410) 730-5016 or (410 720-6129, or email him at charlesjeromeware@msn.com.  We can help you.  Guaranteed.

THE "SCIENCE" OF DUI AND DWI DEFENSE

The complicated legal area of DUI and DWI defense is generally considered by us veteran criminal defense attorneys as both an "art form" as well as a "science."  DUI and DWI defense attorneys who represent clients in these complex cases must be well-versed in human physiology, chemistry, electronics and, to some extent, the field of psychometrics in handling standardized and non-standardized field sobriety tests during DUI and DWI stops.  

For example, consider breath analyzers.  In the U.S., at least five primary breath analyzers are made by four different manufacturers and are used in all 50s states and the District of Columbia.  All of these devices operate from infrared spectroscopy or by means of a fuel cell, or both methods of analysis and detection.

None of these devices allow for differences in gender, for example, and the physiological differences between men and women in registering the effects on their bodies of alcohol consumption, and in particular their "blood alcohol concentrations" (BACs).

There are numerous ways to challenge evidence from these machines. DUI/DWI defense attorneys must understand the internal workings of any breath testing device used in your case in order to be able to cross-examine the state's witnesses effectively on the breath machine’s alleged accuracy.

In DUI matters, the "opinion" evidence [about the driver’s alleged ‘impairment’] gathered by police officers typically consists of field or roadside sobriety tests and observations of the way the driver acted, smelled, spoke or walked shortly after being stopped or confronted by the officer. These agility exercises are supposed to indicate that the person suspected of drunk driving was actually impaired or in some way "a less safe driver." 

Scientific and scholarly studies have shown that field sobriety tests are routinely not given uniformly or in strict compliance with the “standardized” training that is essential to have any reliability at all.  No scientific basis exists for claiming they are valid indicators of ‘impairment’ versus just being too difficult for many people to master as they stand on the shoulder of a busy highway.  Most officers either require the wrong tests or improperly instruct the suspect on how to perform the tests. An experienced DUI defense attorney can sometimes obtain a pre-trial ruling that the so-called ‘field tests’ and their alleged indication of impairment must be excluded from evidence (or not be characterized as ‘tests’ in front of the jury) due to lack of a true scientific foundation or because the officer gave faulty instructions or failed to demonstrate the way he/she wanted the tests to be performed, or because the officer failed to ask the required screening questions to “qualify” the driver as being a proper test subject.

These are just a few examples of the level of intensive, specialized training and knowledge required in drunk driving matters. The DUI and DWI defense lawyer should leave no stone unturned. These cases require detailed investigation.

Finally, and additionally, when testing a driver for DUI, law enforcement officers often give other tests that have not been declared as standardized. The HGN test is generally considered to be reliable because it has its basis in science. Other tests can be challenged by your drunk driving lawyer in Maryland if they are used by the officer to determine that a driver is impaired. Some of these tests may not have been verified in any manner to be trustworthy when charging a person with DUI, but officers will use them anyway.

If you have been arrested or charged for drunk driving in Maryland, call us at (410) 730-5016 or (410) 720-6129, or email us at charlesjeromeware@msn.com.

[see, Drunk Driving Defense, 3d Edition, by Lawrence Taylor, JD/Little Brown & Co.; "A Review of BReath Alcohol Methods," 12 Journal of Chromatographic Science 214 (1974); "Evaluation of BReath Alcohol Instruments," 28 Forensice Science International 147 (1985); "Reliability of Breath-Alcohol Measurements During the Absorptive Phase," 33 Clinical Chemistry, 2128 (1987); http://drunk-drivingdefense.com/dui-defense.htm]