Don’t Plead Guilty! Contact an Experienced Knoxville DUI Lawyer Who Will Fight to Protect Your Future!
Being arrested on a first offense driving under the influence charge is not something that would even come to mind whenever you go out to dinner with your spouse, close friends, or family and choose to have a couple of drinks with dinner. The probabilities of getting arrested, however, are too real. If you get arrested for a first-offense drunk driving charge in Tennessee, you need to know an incredible amount of information. Unfortunately, there is an extremely limited window of opportunity if you wish to prevent having your driver’s license suspended or revoked.
Typically, the mistake a lot of first-time drunk driving offenders make is to assume that their case cannot be beaten in the courtroom or that they do not need to hire an experienced DUI attorney to represent them in court. However, a knowledgeable Tennessee DUI attorney is going to think about your case in a way that you would not be able to do on your own. The attorney is also going to have access to evidence in your case that you might not be able to collect alone.
Your First Offense Tennessee DUI Charge Defense
You shouldn’t automatically assume that you are guilty of drunk driving and that your case cannot be successfully defended in court just because you registered a 0.08% blood alcohol level after the police stopped you.your attorney, one of the first things Mr. Bell will do is request the breathalyzer machine calibration and maintenance history from the police. The reason Mr. Bell will do this is to review the machine’s history to see if there have been any problems with the machine in the past or if the law enforcement department has failed to properly maintain the machine per standards.
DUI: 1st Offense Penalties
- Fine: $350 minimum; $1,500.00 maximum
- Jail: minimum 48 hours; maximum 11 months and 29 days
- mandatory 7 consecutive days if blood alcohol exceeds .20%
- Driver’s license revoked for 1 year
Our Knoxville DUI lawyers are available 24/7 to discuss your 1st offense DUI charge.
If you submitted to a blood test instead of a breath test, Mr. Bell will request a sample of your blood drawn from the police and have an independent laboratory perform a blood alcohol analysis to either confirm or challenge the police department’s findings. The burden of proof as to whether you are guilty of a first-offense DUI charge is solely on the prosecution’s shoulders. The prosecution will have to be able to prove to the jury that you were, in fact, over the legal limit of 0.08% at the time of driving.
Skilled Tennessee DUI Defense Lawyer Located in Knoxville, TN
As a skilled Tennessee DUI lawyer, Mr. Bell will also be able to refute any field sobriety test evidence that the police have against you if you submit to these tests. Several elements affect how well someone does on the field sobriety tests, including:
● The type of shoes you were wearing
● Weather conditions: rain, snow, and cold can affect the test outcome.
● Medical conditions (if you have a condition that adversely affects your balance, etc.)
● Being overweight can affect the test results.
● Lighting conditions. Was the test done at night with poor lighting available?
● Along with many other factors
