What should you do at a DUI Stop?

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:13:05
Speaker 1
Hi, everyone. Have you ever wondered what you would do if law enforcement pulled you over and you had a couple drinks at dinner? Hi, I’m Christina Williams from Just Criminal Law.

00:00:13:10 – 00:00:51:09
Speaker 2
And I’m David Mann, legal storytelling specialist. Okay, Christina, we’ve talked about DUI stops before in other videos. And I just want to get really specific about this because I think a lot of people get into this situation sometimes and the cops, the police sort of freak them out and they end up doing things that maybe they shouldn’t. So what is kind of the rule of thumb not we can get into the script in a second about what to say or not say, but what’s what is it just big ideas to remember when you’re pulled over for for after you’ve had some drinks?

00:00:51:18 – 00:01:14:18
Speaker 1
Well, you don’t have to confirm or deny anything that applies to a DUI stop or any police contact that you have. Really, you’re not obligated to make a statement against yourself. And, you know, they’re going to try to drag you into conversation. But, you know, you can just politely declined to talk to them and let them know you want to get going.

00:01:14:26 – 00:01:35:12
Speaker 2
Okay. So I think we’ve talked about before, I just want to be clear about make sure I’m clear about this, is that if the police officer doesn’t actually observe something, him or herself, you don’t have to give them information willingly, Is that what you’re saying?

00:01:36:18 – 00:02:02:14
Speaker 1
Right. So keep in mind, you know, if you’ve been pulled over and law enforcement has walked up to your window and they start talking to you, they have no idea what you’ve been up to or where you’ve been. And so, you know, they’re they’ve got this body camera that they’re recording everything with, and they’re going to use whatever you say against you in, you know, a potential prosecution.

00:02:02:14 – 00:02:13:14
Speaker 1
And so you don’t need to fill in the gaps of what you’ve been up to or what you were doing or where you’re headed to. You. You really don’t have to make any statements against yourself, ever.

00:02:14:03 – 00:02:38:21
Speaker 2
Okay. Yeah. And this is where it’s confusing sometimes because the police officer is probably going to make it feel like they’re just having a conversation with you, maybe even a conversation that’s intended to help you. But I think what you’re saying is that really what’s happening maybe is a police officer is gathering information to possibly use against you and you don’t have any obligation to give them that information, right?

00:02:39:15 – 00:03:12:00
Speaker 1
Absolutely. They are going to, you know, be friendly with you chit chat with you, try to lower your defenses and get you to just spill your guts, basically, and you don’t have to do this. And keep in mind that, you know, they’re trying to build a case against you and they’re doing it in a nice, friendly way. And you’re, you know, putting down your guard and essentially giving them all they need to use against you.

00:03:12:15 – 00:03:20:13
Speaker 2
So I think you have a really simple thing to remember, to say one or two things to say. And what is that thing?

00:03:21:14 – 00:03:44:08
Speaker 1
Right. So you don’t confirm or deny anything and, you know, you ask them if you’re free to leave because you really have to get going. And, you know, then as they continue to try to get you involved in a conversation, you just, you know, can insist that you really don’t want to discuss your day in and get going.

00:03:44:17 – 00:04:01:22
Speaker 2
Okay. And but there’s a point where the police officer can actually make you stop and do what they say. And what what do you have to listen for them to say in order to know that moment has arrived?

00:04:02:16 – 00:04:33:17
Speaker 1
Right. So you know, whatever your contact has been with the officer, keep in mind he’s he’s making observations and trying to build a case against you. And, you know, even if you’re not answering his questions or doing his field sobriety tests, there’s he may still feel he’s reached the point where he has enough evidence to arrest you. And so when he says, okay, I’m going to have to ask you to step out of your car and I’m going to going to be arresting you for DUI, obviously that’s when you step out of the car.

00:04:33:17 – 00:05:01:17
Speaker 1
You still don’t have to say anything. You know, you you don’t have to say, oh, never mind, I’ll do the tests or whatever occurs to you at the moment. You know, just stay strong, keep going down the road. You’re down. Go ahead and get in the back of his patrol car. And and then, you know, whatever happened up to that point, hopefully you didn’t give away too much evidence and that and you can have an attorney help you.

00:05:03:02 – 00:05:06:19
Speaker 2
Okay. So you’re listening for them to say you’re under arrest.

00:05:06:19 – 00:05:07:05
Speaker 1
Yes.

00:05:07:06 – 00:05:20:26
Speaker 2
Up to that point, you don’t have to give you don’t have to do anything they say, but you’re under arrest. Then you’re going to need to get out of the car. They’re going to read you your rights. You’re going to get handcuffed, put in the back of the squad car. But you don’t have to still don’t have to say anything.

00:05:20:26 – 00:05:34:24
Speaker 2
So why don’t we run through like what would happen possibly in a stop like this? I’ll play the police officer and you play the person who may have had a couple glasses of wine with dinner and is driving. Okay.

00:05:35:13 – 00:05:56:13
Speaker 1
Right. And and I do want to also add, you know, the officers going to ask you for some basic things like your license, registration and proof of insurance. And you do need to hand over that information. Definitely. You know, that’s that’s going to be something that’s required of you. And, you know, there’s no harm in doing that. So don’t worry about that.

00:05:56:18 – 00:06:05:12
Speaker 2
Okay. So we’ll we’ll do a little roleplay of this. I’ve just pulled you over and what’s what’s happening inside your car right now?

00:06:06:04 – 00:06:20:29
Speaker 1
Well, I’m taking my driver’s license out of my wallet and I’m grabbing the envelope that I have my registration and insurance card in, and I’ve got those in my hand ready to hand over to you when you get to my window.

00:06:21:12 – 00:06:26:24
Speaker 2
Okay. Good evening, ma’am. Do you know why I’ve pulled you over?

00:06:26:24 – 00:06:27:11
Speaker 1
No.

00:06:28:10 – 00:06:31:13
Speaker 2
Well, you didn’t use your turn signal when you changed lanes.

00:06:32:26 – 00:06:33:09
Speaker 1
Oh.

00:06:34:17 – 00:06:37:18
Speaker 2
Can I have your license? Registration and proof of insurance, please?

00:06:38:11 – 00:06:38:25
Speaker 1
Sure.

00:06:40:15 – 00:06:42:04
Speaker 2
Ma’am. Have you been drinking tonight?

00:06:43:02 – 00:06:44:25
Speaker 1
I’d rather not discuss my day.

00:06:45:12 – 00:07:15:22
Speaker 2
Well, I. I’m detecting the smell of alcohol. Hmm. All right, well, we’re here, and I’ll go back to my car, write up a ticket, come back. Give me the ticket. I’m now issuing you a warning for not using your turn signal when changing lanes. I’m still smelling that alcohol, though. Would you mind stepping out of the car and doing some field sobriety tests here just to make sure that you’re safe to drive home?

00:07:17:08 – 00:07:22:03
Speaker 1
I’m sorry. I really need to get going. Am I free to leave?

00:07:22:03 – 00:07:46:25
Speaker 2
Sure. But why would I be smelling alcohol? And this is where you’ve the police officer has no right to go any further with this. Now, they may still say you’re under arrest for a DUI because they may think that they have observed enough reasons to arrest you, but they may be wrong about that. And that’s where they would need an attorney like yourself.

00:07:46:25 – 00:07:50:10
Speaker 2
So if that is a situation someone’s in, what should they do?

00:07:50:18 – 00:08:03:11
Speaker 1
Well, we’ll include a link in the description. They can call, text or chat with a member of my team. Any time, day or night. We know you only get one shot at Justice, so make yours count.