What Constitutes Probable Cause in a DUI Stop?

Any police officer should have a “probable cause” to pull you over if the officer thinks that you’ve breached the law. Here are a few important aspects of what constitutes probable cause at a DUI stop.

The significance of the probable cause

A police officer requires probable cause in order to pull you over and you and your Fort Lauderdale, FL DUI lawyer, such as those from Criminal Law Leader managed by Michael D. Leader (http://criminallawleader.com/), who can work this out to see if there is any issues here. Probable cause signifies that there is sufficient dependable information to sustain a reasonable idea that an individual has committed an illegal offense, such as operating a vehicle while in a DUI state or under the influence.

For the most part, it isn’t difficult for any police officer to indicate probable cause for a DUI. The officer may have observed you operating your car as if impaired. This means that you were driving erratically or violated traffic rules. Another significant probable cause can be injury or accident.

If the police officer pulls you over without any probable cause, then you can go ahead and contest it. If the officer had no real probable cause to pull you over, you can put forth a motion to suppress the charge, and have the case dismissed immediately and then you can pat your South Florida DUI attorney on the back and say “nice job”. However, you have to be cautious about one thing. When it is a matter of your word against the police official’s, your claims don’t usually succeed, especially in DUI cases.

Bad behavior can have negative effects

Bad behavior aggravates a probable cause. Probable cause stems from the police official’s observations of an individual’s driving pattern. However, you should remember that once you are pulled over, the official will go on to observe with the view of determining probable cause for further violations. For instance, if he pulls you over as you ran a red light and then noticed the odor of liquor from the vehicle, it can be offer him probable cause to arrest you for DUI.

He will also look for other signs of DUI, such as if you behave suspiciously and remain seated or if you fumble when producing your license or registration. The officer is also likely to look for evidence of drug or alcohol that could be evident from your breath or an odor of smoke within your vehicle, which could be from marijuana or another controlled substance.

All your moves will be observed carefully for probable proof of impairment, and duly noted to eventually use it against you. These observations will definitely be included in the police report and you and your Fort Lauderdale, FL DUI lawyer will be able to see them there. You will want to hand all this information over to Michael D. Leader who is one of the most prominent lawyers in this area, literally and geographically.  

Pretext stops

Probable cause cannot be invoked to justify a pretext stop. Even though a police officer can pull you over for traffic offenses, he cannot use a traffic stop as an excuse to initiate investigations on their own accord. This means that a police officer cannot simply pull you over as an excuse to question the occupants of a motor vehicle about other probable offenses.

No one said life was easy but your life can be much worse as well. Sometimes you screw up which makes your life much more difficult and at times, miserable. If you have been charged with a DUI you need a Ford Lauderdale, FL DUI lawyer. This is where Michael D. Leader comes into the picture. You can see him here: http://criminallawleader.com/. You may not have too many people on your side right about now but if you have him in your corner, you have some hope. 

Now that you know more about the “probable cause”, if you find yourself involved in a DUI case make sure to speak with a South Florida DUI lawyer right away.