There are a number of different ways to challenge the legality of a DUI charge, and we’d be shortchanging our clients if we didn’t explore all the potential avenues to beat the charges. One such defense is the post-driving consumption defense. In today’s blog, we explain how the post-driving consumption defense may be used to get your criminal charges reduced or dropped.
The Post-Driving Consumption Defense
This certainly isn’t the most common method for challenging a DUI, but it is something that should be considered in the right situation. Initially we’ll focus on more common defenses, like challenging the legality of the stop, the officer’s actions during the traffic stop and how evidence was collected. But if those challenges do not bear fruit, we shift gears to see if the post-driving consumption defense would be plausible.
With the post-driving consumption defense, the defendant is arguing that they were not under the influence at the time that they were driving, they only became intoxicated after they had reached their destination and thus were not driving drunk. In other words, the defendant is arguing that they continued or started consuming alcohol once they reached their destination, and this consumption was what put them over the legal limit, but since they were no longer driving at this time, the charges should be dropped.
This tends to work better with an example. Let’s say you went out for happy hour with coworkers after work and drank two margaritas. You had alcohol in your system but were under the legal 0.08 limit when you decided to drive home. You arrive home and decide to have a couple more beers. A short while later, police show up at your house for one reason or another (maybe you called to report suspicious activity in your neighborhood or police are responding to a noise complaint because you had your radio turned up loud in the backyard).
Either way, police arrived on your doorstep for one reason or another and during your interaction, you mention that you just got home. They ask if you drove, and after you say yes they start to question you about whether or not you were under the influence. If you are required to take a breathalyzer and it comes back above 0.08, you could face DUI charges. In this instance, you may argue that your continued consumption led to your post-driving elevated BAC.
This may sound like an highly specific example, but there are many instances where you may end up talking to police after you’ve been driving, and if you’ve recently been consuming alcohol, they might start to question as to whether or not you were over the limit at the time you were driving. This is when the post-driving consumption defense can help you get your DUI charge reduced or dropped altogether.
So like we said, it’s far from the most common defense we’ll put out there for our clients, but if you continued to drink after you reached your destination and police wrongly believe you were above 0.08 when you were driving at an earlier point in the night, you absolutely need to consider this defense as an option. And if you want a legal team that will pursue all of your defense options and help you get the best deal possible, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today.
