Defenses to DUI are often difficult to pursue. Police officers in York County are highly trained, and they make a lot of DUI arrests each year. Chances are, the officer involved in your case has been through dozens of DUI arrests, if not more. To the extent they make mistakes, they generally learn from them and modify their behavior so that they are able to get convictions in future cases. That is, after all, what they are paid to do -- be good at their jobs.

On the other hand, the DUI law, combined with the rules of evidence, court procedure, and constitutional law, can be very complex. There are areas where human beings (including police) make mistakes. An experienced attorney can help you review your case thoroughly to ensure that if any mistakes have been made, that you may be able to avoid a conviction for DUI.

If there is a small chance that a certain type of problem (for the Commonwealth) can arise in any given case, and there are multiple areas to look at, the chances slowly increase to the point where contesting a DUI charge may be vialable.

A famous attorney was once asked by a reporter about a surprising result in a case. The reporter asked the attorney "How did you pull the rabbit out of the hat on this case?" The attorney responded that "I go into every case with fifty rabbits, and if I'm lucky, I get to use one." That is an excellent approach, and it is one that requires experience with DUI cases, familiarity with case law and statutes, and hard work.

There is no "magic bullet" defense. Instead, there are lots of little quirks in the law and possible areas to explore for errors by the Commonwealth. These are, in most cases, issues that someone without an attorney is not going to be able to spot.

Even if you simply wish to plead guilty or enter the ARD program, you would still benefit from having a review of your case to see if you have a reason to contest a DUI charge. 

To discuss whether you may have a defense to a DUI charge, you should call attorney Joseph N. Gothie, Esq., at (717) 848-8455 to set up a free, confidential, no-risk consultation to discuss your case.

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