Jacksonville Breathalyzer Tests Lawyer
If you are stopped under suspicion of driving under the influence, a police officer might decide to give you a breathalyzer test. A breathalyzer is a machine that estimates a person’s ethyl alcohol level based on a breath sample. If your breath’s alcohol content appears to be over the legal limit, the officer will have grounds to charge you with a DUI and use the test as evidence in court.
Unfortunately, the problem with a machine that estimates your blood alcohol is that, even at its best, the results are not always accurate—and there are many factors that can keep a breathalyzer from working at its best. Breathalyzers are prone to mechanical failure, as machines often are, and must be recalibrated and maintained often for the best results. A good DUI lawyer can easily acquire your breathalyzer’s maintenance records. Evidence obtained from a faulty machine can be explained away or even suppressed.
Basic functions of being a human being can also work against a breathalyzer’s results. Conditions like a high fever can skew the test results toward a false positive. Vomiting or belching up to half an hour before taking a breathalyzer test can lift high concentrations of trace alcohol from the stomach into the mouth, leading to a positive test even if your blood content is below the legal limit.
All of this may make you want to refuse a breathalyzer test in the future, but Florida’s “implied consent” law dictates that all drivers agree to submit to breath tests just by accepting their licenses. Refusing a breath test could result in immediate license suspension, but if your lawyer can prove the consequences of refusal were not properly explained to you, your refusal could be inapplicable in court.
If you failed a breath test, you might think you don’t have a case—but you do have options, and they start with retaining an experienced Jacksonville DUI lawyer to fight for you in court. Contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our top Jacksonville DUI attorneys today.
