There are some officers that are very experienced and have been dealing with DUIs their entire career. They tend to know the ins and outs, but the law says that a person is entitled to consult with counsel prior to the blood, breath, or urine test. Some officers might think, “Well, they can wait until after the blood, breath or urine test and then I’ll let them talk to an attorney.” That is not supposed to be the case.
Just as we have attorneys who look into the case law and are knowledgeable about what the case law is, officers are supposed to keep up-to-date on what the latest case law is and some of them just don’t do it. They don’t have time or they just don’t want to try to remember all the different areas of the law. This is because, unlike someone like me who concentrates on DUI cases, there’s a huge area of the law out there concerning criminal cases and DUI cases.
There is case law on thefts and sex abuses cases and shoplifting and child abuse and DUI cases and officers are expected to remember all of it. Not only the statutes, the laws and on the law books but the case law on the issues as well, what you can do, what you can’t do.
It’s a lot to remember and officers may not be able to remember all of it and that can be a ripe area for challenging issues in a person’s case and possibly getting charges dismissed and possibly getting evidence suppressed so that they can’t use it against a person at trial.
