Don’t make the mistake of assuming, as so many people do, that a breath test is an ironclad piece of evidence. Many people believe that failing a breath test, or blowing a blood alcohol concentration that is over the legal limit, is a guarantee that they are going to be convicted on drunk driving charges.
It is true that failing a breath test likely means you’re going to be arrested and charged. But it certainly doesn’t mean you’re going to be convicted, and there are ways you can challenge the test.
Was the officer trained?
For instance, you may simply want to question whether or not the officer was trained to use that test. An officer who wasn’t trained may not have administered the test properly, and that might mean that the results were inaccurate.
Was the machine calibrated?
Even if the officer used the test properly, it needs to be maintained and calibrated for it to be accurate. If the machine itself has been neglected and simply hasn’t been checked in a long time, it could be that the reading that was found doesn’t match your actual blood alcohol concentration level.
You shouldn’t have been stopped
Finally, evidence gathered through an illegal search cannot be used in court. As such, even if you were over the legal limit, you may be able to challenge this evidence if you were stopped illegally. All traffic stops must be lawful, regardless of evidence recovered during those stops.
These are just a few of your options to challenge a breath test, so make sure you know about all of the legal steps you can take when facing DUI charges.