Getting impaired driving/DUI charges dismissed or reduced

Many drinking and driving charges are either dismissed or reduced.

You might be assuming that your case is hopeless because you failed a breath test or because someone has told you that impaired driving cases are "open and shut." Nothing is further from the truth. This is because DUI charges are some of the most complex and technical charges in the Criminal Code.

The prosecution may not be able to prove the case against you.

If that happens, then your impaired driving charges must be dismissed. You're innocent until proven guilty.

But how can this happen? Here's an example.

Let's say the police tell you that you've failed a breath test. The case might seem straightforward, but it's not.

Breath tests aren't perfect.

People and machines make mistakes. Human error, faulty breath-testing equipment or your own unique characteristics can produce false breath readings. And even if the test is accurate, it tells you what your blood alcohol level was at the time you took the test. Your blood alcohol level may have been under .08 when you were driving (the relevant time) but over .08 at the time you were tested.

Want some more examples?

Evidence is critical to the prosecution, and evidence may be excluded if it is improperly obtained. You may have showed signs of impairment that were not caused by alcohol or drugs.

The bottom line is that there are many defences to impaired driving charges. Have your case reviewed by an impaired driving lawyer before you enter a guilty plea to see if any of them apply to your case. You might find that your charges can be dismissed if an impaired driving lawyer is there to help you.

Having your charges reduced (plea negotiations).

In some cases the most valuable thing an impaired driving lawyer can do for you is negotiate a plea to a lesser offence. This is sometimes referred to as "plea-bargaining."

Plea-bargaining happens every day at all levels of criminal court. It involves negotiations between your lawyer and the prosecutor, whereby the parties agree that the original charges will be dropped or a guilty plea will be entered to a lesser offence.

Prosecutors will entertain plea negotiations, but they need a good reason. Acceptable reasons usually involve weaknesses in the prosecution's case. An impaired driving lawyer knows how to discover such weaknesses and carefully negotiate with the prosecutor on your behalf. Sometimes a defendant will try to negotiate with a prosecutor on their own. This is a bad idea. Often a defendant will accept an offer from the prosecutor that is not the best offer available. And because prosecutors tend to make only one offer of resolution, you want to make sure it's the best one.

An impaired driving lawyer provides in-depth knowledge of complex laws and procedures and will conduct your plea negotiations from the outset. Your likelihood of successful plea negotiations goes up when an expert conducts them. By having an impaired driving lawyer conduct these negotiations, you'll know you are getting the best deal available.