The Definitive Guide to Defeating an Arizona DUI

In DUI cases a gas chromatograph is calibrated using calibrators that are a mixture of ethanol and water. A crime lab must address the fact that they are attempting to measure the amount of ethanol in a different matrix – blood.

One issue that is often overlooked is ensuring that the blood sample is allowed to properly warm prior to the measurement process. Blood samples are stored in a refrigerator to preserve sample integrity. However, if they are not allowed to reach room temperature before testing the result can be artificially inflated. 

This is how someone who is under the legal limit can get a blood test result above .08; or how a regular DUI falsely becomes a super-extreme DUI.

Contaminated Samples

• Methanol
• Acetone
• Unidentified Peeks
• Acetaldehyde

Independent Analysis

• State Ex Rel. McDougall v. Corcoran (Keene), 153 Ariz. 157, 735 P.2d 767 (1987)

Breath Tests for Alcohol

• Partition Rations
• Indirect Measurements
• Infrared spectroscopy
• Breath Temperature
• Hematocrit Radio
• Frequency Interference
• Mouth Alcohol
• Illegal per se offense
• Calibration Need
• Non-specific Analysis
• Interfering Compounds
• Homeostatic variables
• Common Sources of Error
• Henry’s Law

Independent Analysis

• Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016)

Blood Tests for Drugs

Did you know that the result of a blood test for a drug – is not capable of determining whether a person was impaired?

Retrograde Extrapolation

Misusing Field Sobriety Tests

• Correlation v. Causation
• National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA)
• Nystagmus
• Gaze-Evoked Nystagmus
• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
• Walk and Turn Test
• One Leg Stand
• Validated v. Standardized
• Peer Reviewed Published Science

Principles of Forensic Science

• Quality Assurance
• Quality Control
• The Scientific Method

Measurement Uncertainty

Measurements are not true values. The true value of anything you attempt to measure is unknowable. Measurements are just estimations. Some better than others. This is true whenever a lab measures the amount of alcohol in a blood or breath sample in a DUI case

Constitutional Challenges

If you have been arrested for a DUI, Aggravated DUI of Manslaughter in Arizona then you have rights guaranteed by both the United States Constitution and also the Arizona Constitution. Many times people overlook the rights given under the Arizona Constitution. These constitutional protections are the basis of any decision by a court to suppress evidence or dismiss a DUI case. 

Illegal Traffic Stops

The police need a reason to pull over your car. How good the reason must be is a complicated question that often has a subjective answer. The law requires that a police officer have reasonable suspicion that a crime was committed to justify a traffic stop.

Illegal Arrests for DUI

To arrest a person for DUI in Arizona the police must have probable cause that you were impaired by alcohol (or a drug). This usually requires probable cause to believe that your alcohol concentration is above the legal limit. So, what is required for them to meet this burden?

Illegal Searches in DUI Cases

The Fourth Amendment to Constitution protects people from unreasonable search and seizures by the government. The Arizona Constitution seems to even go further by giving a right to privacy in your “private affairs.” What does these right really protect in Arizona DUI cases?

Warrantless Seizure of Blood

A warranted seizure of blood is presumed unconstitutional. These types of cases have received a lot of attention from Arizona courts in the last couple of years. There is has been a trend away from allowing warrantless blood draws, but also a tendency towards permitting warrantless breath testing.

• Missouri v. McNeely (2013)

Challenging Search Warrants

Search warrants for a blood sample based on unreliable or false information.

• Franks v. Delaware Motions

Right to Counsel in DUI Cases

In Arizona, the Right to Counsel attaches well before it does under the federal law.

• Choice of counsel
• Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Exculpatory Evidence Rights 

Arizona is one of the few states that guarantee the right to independent testing of a blood sample. 

Lost or Destroyed Evidence

The government has duty to preserve reasonably accessible evidence having a tendency to exonerate a person. Failure to preserves such evidence can result in a due process violation.

• Willits Instructions to a jury.
• The Arizona v. Youngblood “bad faith” Standard.

Unreliable Identification in DUI Cases

What evidence proves who was driving the car? In a common case where a police officer makes the traffic stop this is not an issue. However, in the situation where the police arrive at the scene of an accident, well after it occurred, many people overlook the problem of identification.

Outrageous Government Conduct in DUI Cases

This is a defense to a criminal allegation due to police conduct “so outrageous” that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking a “judicial process to obtain a conviction.”

Speedy Trial Right Violations in DUI Cases

The right to a speedy trial is actually intended to benefit the accused and the public.  It is primarily intended to ensure that a person is treated fairly.  At the same time, society also has an interest in resolving cases as soon as practicable.

The Right to Confront the Crime Laboratory

Confrontation Clause issues

No Driving or Actual Control

Arizona law makes not just driving, but also being in control of a vehicle that is not moving while impaired, a crime.

No Actual Physical Control

• Whether the vehicle was running;
• Whether the ignition was on;
• Where the ignition key was located;
• Where and in what position the driver was found in the vehicle;
• Whether the person was awake or asleep;
• Whether the vehicle’s headlights were on;
• Where the vehicle was stopped…

Car as a Shelter

Arizona case law has reaffirmed that a car may be used as a “shelter” by a person intoxicated without being in actual physical control of the vehicle. However, there is not a traditional safe harbor defense for relinquishing control after realizing you should not be driving.