Speaking to Police & Arrest Scenarios

Interviewer: If someone were to get pulled over for a DWI or DUI and they had indeed been smoking maybe a few days before, would it still be a good idea for them to disclose that information to the officer, or should they still be discrete about that and consult a lawyer?

Brian Sloan: It’s never a good idea to be open and honest with the officer. Not that you should lie to the officer, but you just need to stay quiet. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. That is told to you as part of your Miranda rights. Whether you are actually advised of your Miranda rights or not, you always have those constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment. Shutting up is the best advice. If the officer asks you your name, you can give him your name. You can give him a form of identification. You should not be giving the officer any information that they can use against you. You should never admit to smoking marijuana. You should never admit to doing any drugs. You just don’t answer the officer’s questions. Tell them that you are invoking your right to remain silent.

Interviewer: If I were arrested and I was given a blood draw or a urine analysis, and it finds out that I’m at that safety zone as far as the hydroxy-THC goes, and I acknowledge and I find out that that’s not going to count against me, does that mean, necessarily, that I’m going to be home free?

Brian Sloan: Well, wait a minute, you mean carboxy; it’s carboxy-THC where you can’t be charged. If they find hydroxy-THC you can still be charged; you can still be convicted with hydroxy. Currently, they don’t test for that. The problem is that if the officer has probably cause to draw your blood or take your urine, and if they got a warrant or if they got your consent to get the blood or urine, the person’s not going to know what they are going to have in their system, whether it’s going to be THC, carboxy-THC, or hydroxy-THC; they’re really not going to know.

If someone was arrested for a DUI and if all they had was marijuana, if they hire me to represent them, and if I go into courts for my client and I am told that the case is being dismissed because all they found was carboxy-THC, I will refund the majority of my client’s money. The case is going to be dismissed. The dismissal had nothing to do with me. It’s certainly that the evidence wasn’t there. I refund all but usually about $250 just for the time that I put into it.

Interviewer: Let’s say I have failed the standardized field sobriety test, but this still comes out where, like I said, I’m in that safety zone as far as the marijuana goes, but they’re trying to take into account that I accidently said something like, “Oh, yeah, I was smoking last night.” If that was the situation, are they going to move on from that and say, “Okay, well, we have other evidence as well”?

Brian Sloan: The prosecutor still really does not have any evidence. If they only show that they have carboxy-THC, but the person did horribly on the field sobriety tests and admitted to smoking marijuana two days earlier, they still have nothing because carboxy-THC is not impairing. Why did the person do badly on the field sobriety tests? Maybe they have no balance, or they have other issues. It can’t be attributed to the carboxy-THC because carboxy-THC is non-impairing, so the case still should be dismissed. There’s no reason for the case to move forward and there’s no evidence for the prosecutor to use to move forward, other than the person has bad balance, and that’s not a crime.

By Brian Douglas Sloan

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Why Attorney Brian Douglas Sloan?

18+

18+ Years SOLELY Focused on DUI Defense

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4,100+ DUIs Successfully Defended

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“I am one of only a handful of Phoenix DUI Lawyers that focuses solely on DUI Defense representation.”

I have spent my entire career focused on DUI Defense representation, having personally defended more than 4,100+ DUI clients in the past 18+ years.

If you’re looking for a divorce attorney, tax attorney, or civil attorney, then I can comfortably say: "I’m not the one for you".

Coming up with traditional, as well as outside-the-box motions and defenses for my clients, often with good results, is the hallmark of my practice.

Lawyers that say they are "aggressive", or "will fight for you", are a dime a dozen. They use these phrases because that is what they think people want to hear. The truth of the matter is, being "aggressive" rarely gets the client anywhere in these court systems. Being "aggressive" isn’t the same as being good, and is often used to put on a show for a client to hide the fact that they aren’t doing anything meaningful for the client.

The same is true for the lawyers that claim to do DUI Defense... and Criminal Cases..., and Accident cases..., and Divorces. A Jack-of-all-Trades is a master of none. By handling all different sorts of cases, they take away from their ability to truly focus on DUIs, and keep up to date on the latest changes in DUI Defense Representation.

What I offer is intelligent, quality DUI Defense, at an exceptional price.

I am one of only a handful of Arizona DUI Lawyers that focuses solely on DUI Defense representation.

I have not only taught other lawyers how to do DUI Defense Representation at statewide seminars, but I produce DUI Legal Guides used by defense lawyers across Arizona.

I am one of the most award-winning DUI Defense Lawyers in Arizona; have been recognized nationally, including in a 2022 issue of USA Today; and there are only a few lawyers in Arizona who have personally defended more DUI cases than I have. I am also one of the most reasonably-priced DUI Lawyers, as I pride myself on charging a Flat Rate only for the legal services you need, and not for the legal services you don’t.

I am also the lawyer who people call once they realize that their original lawyer screwed something up, gave them false hope or false promises, or simply just took their money and didn’t do much on the case. You would be surprised at how often this happens.

Save yourself the trouble of hiring the wrong lawyer, and hire the right DUI Defense Lawyer from the start.

You can reach me on my personal cell phone: 480-720-7839.

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Brian Douglas Sloan

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