DUI Video Transcripts

EMOTIONAL IMPACT
I learned in college that the number one suicide in the jails of America is a DUI arresttee. I know how serious this matter is and how concerned you may be when you are sitting at home the night after you’ve been arrested and wondering if your life is over or if you’ve reached some end point in your life. Perhaps the DUI is only the tip of the iceberg and there are a lot more troubling issues ongoing in your life. We have several counselors that we can refer you to, to assist you in this process. First of all, we need to take care of you as an individual and then we will turn our attention to your legal case.

WELCOME TO OUR SITE
Hi, I’m Boone Beale with the law firm of Boone Beale. We have put together a series of videos that we encourage you to watch to educate you about the defense of your case. We use that same method to educate a judge or a jury in the defense of your case. Let’s talk, let’s learn together about the defenses and let’s win.

PENALTIES

FIRST OFFENSE
If you are facing a first offense of DUI it carries with it a minimum fine of $250, a maximum of $2500. There is no mandatory minimum jail on a normal first offense DUI. If you have a elevated Blood Alcohol Level of a .15 or higher, there’s a mandatory minimum five days in jail. If it’s a .21 or higher Blood Alcohol, it’s a mandatory minimum ten days in jail. We’ll talk about all the other ideas or consult the website for the actual statutory language.

SECOND OFFENSE
A second offense of DUI or DWI carries with it a minimum fine of $500, a maximum fine of $2500. There is a minimum jail sentence for 30 days, 20 of which are mandatory if it is within a five year period, ten days of which are mandatory if it is within a 10 year period of your first offense.

THIRD OFFENSE
If you are unfortunate enough to be facing a third offense of DUI or DWI within a ten year time frame you are facing a felony. It carries with it the potential punishment of one to five years in the penitentiary. There is a mandatory minimum six months in jail, if it’s a third offense within five years, and a mandatory minimum 90 days in jail if it’s a third offense within ten years.

FOURTH OFFENSE
If you are facing a fourth offense of DUI or DWI, there is a mandatory minimum jail sentence of one year in the penitentiary or 12 months in jail. It’s an extremely harsh punishment for a fourth offense that is applicable if it occurred within ten years of the three priors.

REFUSAL
You may be charged with an additional offense of refusing to take a blood or breath test. If it’s a first offense and you are convicted, it causes you to loose your drivers license for a period of one year without any possibility of getting a restricted license. On a second offense, it carries with it, a three year license suspension, plus an additional term of punishment which could be up to six months in jail and up to a $1000 fine. On a third offense of refusing, you could be convicted and loose your license for a period of three years plus a jail sentence of up to 12 months, and a fine of up to $2500. We need to talk with you about the defenses to this additional charge.

LICENSE SUSPENSION
One of the things that you’re concerned about is what happens to my drivers license when I’m convicted of a DUI. On a first offense there’s a mandatory loss of your license for a period of one year. On a second offense within ten years, there is a three year license suspension. If it is a third offense within ten years it is a lifetime suspension of your license. Depending on whether or not it is a first or second offense there is a period of time that you may be without a license all together. But, Normally on a first offense, you will be able to get a restricted permit if you are convicted.

DEFENSES

ACID REFLUX
Often times when you are pulled over by a police officer, you become very nervous. This may cause you to have stomach problems or gastric reflux or acid reflux as a result. Perhaps it is a condition you already suffer from and you’re on medication. Unfortunately, if you have acid reflux, or you’re burping or belching because of the nervousness of your stomach this may cause the breath test to be much higher than your actual blood alcohol level. We can talk about this as one of the possible defenses to a DUI.

ACTIONS BY THE POLICE
Many people want to know whether or not what the police officer did was illegal in their case. Should they have done it? Should they not have done it? Well, the point is they did it. It may lead to a defense and if so, we will use that on your behalf. Most likely, it will show us a method that we can get under the police officer’s skin in cross examination to bring forth a win in your case.

WALK AND TURN TEST
One field sobriety test you may have been given is called the walk and turn test, where the officer asks you to walk nine paces, heal to toe, turn around on a pivot, and walk back nine paces. The officer is looking for nine different clues or cues when you are performing this particular test and we will cross examine him closely on these issues. He can cause you to have difficulty on this test by standing to near you, walking along side of you as you are doing the test, or by putting you on a surface or terrain that is unlevel or uneven. Lastly, if you’re a woman there is no way you can conduct this test the same way that a man can because of your hip structure. This particular test should not be allowed when conducting an inquiry on a female.

THREE BURDENS OF PROOF
There are three aspects of your case when it goes to trial. First of all, whether or not there is reasonable, articulable, suspicion to stop. Secondly, whether or not there was probable cause to arrest. And, lastly, whether or not there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether or not there was reasonable, articulable suspicion will be governed by your actual driving behavior. It will be before the police officer puts on his lights and sirens to pull you over. Whether or not there is probable cause to arrest you will be determined by the interactions between you and the police officer after he has pulled you over. Field sobriety test that you performed, how you conducted yourself, how you handled the questions by the police officer. These will all go to probable cause. We could win your case at the hearing based on the lack of the reasonable articulable suspicion to stop, or the level of probable cause to arrest. If not, then the case will proceed to determine whether or not there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

UNREASONABLE REFUSAL
In addition to a DUI you may have been charged with Unreasonable Refusal to Allow the Taking of a Blood or Breath Test. You may have been charged with a refusal even though you blew into the device, blew repeatedly into the device and kept getting error messages on the breath testing device. Is that fair? Is that legal? Or, is that a defense? You need to talk to us in detail about that because often we can show that it was not you that was wrong, but it was the officer who made the mistake and have you found not guilty of refusing to take this test.

THEME OF THE CASE
Before we the trial of any case, we always want to know what we want to be saying at the end of the case. That’s called the theme of the case. The theme of your case may be acid reflux as the defense, it may be that it’s the Tyndall effect that is the theory of our defense, it may be rising blood alcohol. All of these may apply, but when we present the case to the court, to a judge or jury, we need to pick what is the central theme of your case and present that and drive it home so that you may be found not guilty.

THE TYNDALL EFFECT
One possible defense in your case may apply if your air bags deployed. It’s called a Tyndall Effect type of defense. When your air bags are packed inside of your steering column, they are packed with talc powder, and when they are dispersed or explode, there is a large smoke field that occurs. You will breathe in that talc powder into your lungs and when you blow into a breath testing device, that talc powder will actually leave your lungs and create what is known as the Tyndall Effect. The absorption of light in the infrared testing device will cause a false high reading. We need to talk about this in detail when you talk to us.

SHOULD I JUST PLEAD GUILTY?
Right now as you’re sitting there, looking at this video, or looking at this website, you may be thinking to yourself, “Why in the world should I contact an attorney? I tested over the legal limit, I drank, I drove, and maybe I should just accept the fact that I will be found guilty.” Well let me tell you, that will be a serious mistake. You should pick up the phone and call and talk with us about the circumstances about your case because you do not know whether or not it is a case that can be won or loss at this time. Don’t prejudge your case and don’t feel that because you tested over the legal limit that your case is already lost. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have won the majority of my cases even though the person charged, tested over the legal limit. So give us a call and we can talk about all the particular details in your case to determine whether or not you have a chance of success.

RISING MOUTH TEMPERATURE
Your situation did not occur in a vacuum. Perhaps you were suffering from a fever or you have allergy problems and you were taking a anti-histamine. If you were taking a medication of if you were just suffering from a fever and your body core temperature is higher, that will effect a breath test. For every one degree rise in your body temperature on the Centigrade Scale, it will cause a corresponding ten percent higher reading on a breath test.

RISING BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL
One defense that I mentioned was a rising Blood Alcohol Level. This may occur as a result of your having a drink shortly before leaving the bar, or perhaps you ate a meal and the drinks haven’t yet gotten into your system. What the law is interesting in is the Blood Alcohol Level at the time of driving. We will look at that very closely in our interview to determine whether or not this defense applies in your case.

POSSIBLE DEFENSES
As you’re sitting at home, wondering whether or not there is a defense, please know that there are a number of possible defenses to a DUI or DWI. One possible defense is a rising Blood Alcohol Content, or rising Blood Alcohol Level. The second one is the Tyndall Effect that may apply if your air bags deployed and you were in an accident. A third defense may be a raised body temperature causing a breath test to read falsely high. There may be interference in your breath or other defenses. The facts of your particular case will determine what is the best possible defense. Let’s talk.

ONE LEG STAND TEST
One field sobriety test that may have been given to you is the one legged stand. If you’re over 65 or more than 50 pound over weight, this test should not have been given to you as party of any testing protocol. What the police officer is looking for is whether or not you put the foot that you raised in the air down before you get to the count of 30. The second thing is whether or not you hop on the other foot to keep from putting your foot down. The third thing that he is supposed to be looking for is whether or not you raised your arms from your side. The fourth and final thing that he is looking for is whether or not he is swaying. We will cross examine the police officer very precisely as to how he conducted the test because sometimes the errors are made by the way the officer gives it, rather than the way that you performed the test.

HORIZONTAL GAZE TEST
One of the field tests that you were probably asked to perform was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. Nystagmus refers to the rapid movement of your eyeballs such as I am demonstrating with my hand right now. It’s where your eyeball is bouncing while following a stimulus that is used by the police officer passing it in front of your field of vision. The officer could have induced nystagmus in your eye by either moving the stimulus to quickly, moving it to close to your eyes, or not allowing for enough time for you to follow the pen while conducting the test.

FINGER TO NOSE TEST
One field sobriety test that the officer may have had you perform is touching your finger to your nose. You extend your arm out, and touch the tip of your nose with your finger. They will critique you on “he touched the bridge of his nose, or the upper lip..” or things of this nature. One thing I want to drive home to you is that NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has determined that there is no statistical determination between the finger to nose touch and whether or not your blood alcohol level is above a .10. This is an important piece to the puzzle which we must present to the judge or jury in your case.

DO I NEED AN ATTORNEY
One question is “Whether or not I need an attorney?” People call me about all types of matters and I do not recommend an attorney where it is a non-serious matter that doesn’t have severe consequences. But I would caution you on a DUI that you always need an attorney that knows how to handle your case. You would not consider performing surgery upon yourself, and the same thing is true with a DUI. You need an experienced individual who has an objective perspective leading you through this matter. You should definitely talk to an attorney to determine what the defenses are in your case and whether or not you make a decision to hire one will then at least be an informed decision.

CHOOSING AN ATTORNEY

YOUR ATTORNEY’S REPUTATION
One thing that is important in the defense of your DUI is the reputation of your attorney. We enjoy a ver good reputation based upon our sound ethics and the fact that we have been speaking at Continuing Legal Education Seminars on the defense of DUI’s for a number of years. I have spoken for more than 20 years, more than 100 times, training other lawyers how to defend cases both here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and nationally. Be sure you speak with someone who know’s what they’re talking about before you make your decision.

WHAT MAKES BOONE BEALE DIFFERENT?
Why are the attorney’s different here at Boone Beale? First of all, it’s because we care. We care about you the individual. We understand how stressful this time is for you. Many people come into our office with the stress still showing in their face and their actions. We will take care of you. You need to know once your hire our firm and we agree to take on your case, that you can sit back and relax and let us do the work and take on the stress which you can leave behind at our office.

WHY IS BOONE BEALE SO SUCCESSFUL?
Many people ask “Why are you so successful in the DUI defense?” One of the reasons is we take a unique approach to every case that comes into our office. I cannot tell you how many times a judge has looked down from the bench after the trial of the case and a dismissal telling me they had never heard that issue raised before by any other attorney that appeared in the court. It is this detailed approach that we take that wins cases.

THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
Often times people want to know whether or not I am the right attorney for them. I tell them that they need to answer ‘yes’ to three simple questions before you can answer that question for yourself. First of all, do you trust me? Can you tell me the deepest and darkest secrets of your case? Secondly, when I talk to you, do you understand what I have to say? Do I communicate well with you? Thirdly, do I understand what I’m talking about? Do I know what I’m talking about? If you can answer yes to these three simple questions you know that I can be the right attorney for you.

THE TEAM APPROACH
We take a team approach to the defense of your case which means that you’ll be talking with our paralegal’s, investigators, our toxicologists that we use, as well as the attorney assigned to your case. You are an essential member of the team. You are the one that is in possession of the facts, and may prove to be the critical witness in the defense of your case. You will always be treated as a team member, which means that we will keep you informed about your case in every step of the process. Essentially, you need to know everything we know about the defense of your case.

POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL COSTS
One of the things that you may be wondering about is how a fee can be set with an attorney on a criminal matter. We are not allowed to charge contingent fees like occur in a personal injury case so there has to be a set fee established between the attorney and client before we take on a criminal representation. We charge a flat fee which will be discussed in detail before you hire us. The only thing that may be in addition are costs incurred which are specific to your case - such as getting information from Forensic Sciences about the breath devise that was used in your case. Possibly we may need to use an expert and his fees are not included in ours. We will discuss all of this in detail and will not incur any costs in your case unless you have given us permission, or authorized that expense.

KNOWING WHEN TO FIGHT
There are many different aspects to the handling of the case. First of all, it’s having strong inter-personal relationships with the court personnel and the prosecutors that you handle cases with on a regular basis. We do not go in with our sleeves rolled up ready for a fight when we go in to negotiate your case because that method will only cause a prosecutor to dig in their heals to fight you back. If we are not successful in negotiating a case, then we do roll up our sleeves to go into the court room. You want to pick an attorney that has the fire in his gut to handle his case, to fight your case successfully. I can assure you that at Boone Beale, we have that.

HOW BOONE BEALE WINS CASES
Some times people wonder how do we win cases? A lot of times, it’s based on cross examination of the police officer. I have found through my experience that about 55% -70% of the time, the police officer conducts the field sobriety tests incorrectly and I can focus the attention of the judge or the jury on the fact that the police officer was messing up, rather than letting them focus on how you performed on the test. Another way that I have found that we can win cases is on technical issues. The highest BAC case I ever won was a .34. My client was so intoxicated, she couldn’t even get out of her vehicle to stand up to take sobriety tests. But, on a technical basis, I was able to keep the Blood Alcohol Level of .34 out of evidence in the case and she was found not guilty. Do not prejudge your case. Talk to us, and we can fashion a defense if one exists. If it’s there, we will find it.

DETERMINING FEES
Your may be wondering how the law firm of Boone Beale determines the fees that they will charge in your particular case. Well let me explain first of all that there is no standard or set fee that applies across the board to every DUI. It’s kind of like going out and buying a home. Each property is unique and has unique characteristics. Your case will have it’s unique circumstances or unique characteristics that will determine what the fees will be charged in your case. Just like you cannot make a final decision about the purchase of an expensive piece of property, you cannot make a realistic determination of who you would like to have represent you until you sit down and discuss all of the details.

GUARANTEES
One question that has to be at the back of your mind is do I get a guarantee, or can I get a guarantee from you as my attorney? Unfortunately not. It is unethical for an attorney to guarantee a result in your case. We can talk about your case and compare it to prior offenses. Much like the stock market, we can predict what the probability of success is in your case based upon what we have seen in the past. But, just like when you’re buying a stock, past performance doesn’t always guarantee continued success. We need to talk in detail when you meet with us.

BOONE BEALE’S CREDENTIALS.
What are the credentials of an attorney at Boone Beale? First of all, our law firm is preeminently rated by Martin Dale Hubble. That is a peer review by other lawyers, judges, and prosecutors about the quality of your firm. Only about three percent of the nation’s attorney’s deserve this high ranking in Martin Dale Hubble. We are also trained in field sobriety testing, breath testing, as well as having former police officers and prosecutors in our law firm that will assist you in prosecuting your case.

WHAT TO EXPECT

YOUR INITIAL APPEARANCE
Your first court appearance in most courts is either an arraignment or an initial appearance in federal court. At the arraignment procedure, the court is going to describe to you how you go about getting a court-appointed attorney, if you qualify for one. Additionally, they’ll explain to you that you’re charged with and offense that carries with it the possibility of a jail sentence and because of that you’re entitled to be represented by an attorney. Generally, nothing major is accomplished at this hearing, but your new court date will be scheduled. Many courts will waive this initial arraignment, or initial appearance, if you already have an attorney on board because the reason for having the hearing will no longer be needed.

YOUR DAY I N COURT
Certainly you’re going to want to know what your day in court will be like. You’re going to be nervous, but the way you need to avoid the nervousness is by preparation. That’s by consulting with us back and forth between the time you first contacted us and then until the time of your case. We will be in constant communication with you, providing you with all of the information concerning your case so that you will be ready for your day in court.

THE INITIAL INTERVIEW
What can you expect at the initial interview? One thing you can expect is that it will be a lengthy process because we need to listen and gather all the details in your case. You may have talked to someone else that may have spent maybe five to ten minutes with you talking about either how good they are or what their track record is. But what we want to do is spend the time listening to you and all the facts and details of your case. It is with only these detailed interviews and the detailed information that we can fashion a defense to your case.

PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW
How do you prepare for an initial interview? The easiest thing may be to fill out our questionnaire which has all the details that we are looking for. If you work better freeform, then just write down all the details. Give us all the facts and circumstances of the days events that occurred within 24 hours before you were arrested for this DUI. We need to know what you had to eat, what you had to drink, and all of the persons that you spoke with on that day. Perhaps you may forget the name of the witness or other detailed information if you ignore doing this within the first 24 to 48 hours after your arrest. These details are what provide a winning combination for your case.

THE PLEA NEGOTIATIONS
How are pleas negotiated between attorneys? Well, first of all, the judge is not involved in this plea negotiation process. The plea agreements that are reached take place between your attorney and the prosecutor who is assigned to the case. The negotiations usually take place at the day of court, rather than well in advance of your court date. Certainly, it would be easier on you to have this done or accomplished before your day in court. But the reality of it is, that the prosecutor has not had an opportunity to speak with the arresting officer until the day of court and will not be in the final position to make that final decision until that day.

CLOSING COMMENTS
I have a few final comments that I want to make to you as you’re departing from our website. First of all, our firm is comprised of many, many lawyers, and we have combined experience of over 100 years that will be on your side. I personally have practiced law for 26 years and handled more than 4000 cases. The majority of those I won. Rest assured, if we take on the responsibility of your case, we will earn your trust.