DUI Traffic Stop
– by Your Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney, Daniel Fernandez
In many DUI cases, a law enforcement officer will allege that he observed a traffic violation and after stopping the vehicle, that he smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage along with seeing the driver’s eyes to be red and glossy.
When a law enforcement officer stops a moving vehicle he is required to have either a founded suspicion of criminal activity or cause to believe a traffic infraction has occurred. Since most stops are traffic stops, the determination of whether the officer had cause to stop the vehicle based on a reasonable belief that he observed a traffic infraction is thus critical. When police stop a motor vehicle, even for a brief period, a Fourth Amendment “seizure” occurs. A traffic stop is reasonable, and therefore constitutional, if the officers conducting the stop have probable cause to believe a traffic violation has occurred. A determination of probable cause rests on objective factors. A criminal defense lawyer can challenge the stop. Often, there is no traffic violation, therefore, the stop was illegal and the evidence must be suppressed. A criminal defense lawyer can challenge the stop and request that any evidence of intoxication be thrown out where the stop was improper. A stop is not valid where a driver did not commit a traffic infraction, therefore, any evidence of intoxication must be suppressed because it was seized as a result of an unlawful stop. Where the initial traffic stop was not justified, the evidence obtained after the improper traffic stop must be excluded under the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree doctrine.
Whether an officer has probable cause to make a traffic stop is judged not by the officer’s subjective belief, but by an objective standard based on the observed violations. The test is whether an officer could have stopped the vehicle for a traffic infraction. Did the officer actually observe a traffic violation?
When there is no objective evidence to establish probable cause for a traffic violation, the stop is improper. And when the circumstances are insufficient to support the traffic stop, all evidence obtained as a result of the improper stop must be suppressed. In Tampa, your DUI criminal defense attorney can help guide you through the process and will file the necessary motions.
If you suspect that you have been improperly stopped, contact a criminal defense lawyer and challenge the stop and request that any evidence of intoxication be thrown out. Our firm has represented clients in thousands of DUI cases. Many of these cases involved improper stops where evidence was thrown out and the case was dismissed.
If you have been arrested for DUI in the Tampa area and suspect that the stop was improper, call Tampa DUI criminal defense lawyer Daniel Fernandez of Fernandez & for a free consultation now.
Call Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney, Daniel Fernandez of Fernandez & at 813-229-5353 or read more at: CriminalDefenseLawyerTampa.com
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