Mistakes to Avoid in a New Hampshire DWI Stop
When someone is uninformed on what the process is at a New Hampshire DWI stop, they can make a variety of mistakes which may end up hurting their case later on. A lot of these mistakes are easy to avoid and should be something that everyone is aware of. Individuals being uninformed generally happens with the first offense and potentially in a second offense. It is important to know the mistakes to avoid in a New Hampshire DWI Stop from the first offense and with any subsequent offenses to avoid any potential penalties.
Talking with the Police
When a police officer asks someone a question at a DWI stop in New Hampshire, that individual generally would think that giving an honest statement is going to help them. However, it usually does not help. Answering questions about how much they had to drink is not a good thing, especially if the number is greater than two.
The biggest mistake to avoid in a New Hampshire DWI stop is what an individual says to the police and everything that they can say can and will be used against a person, and it will absolutely be used against them with their DWI case. The most damaging evidence sometimes could be the statements a client makes without thinking.
Drivers should not lie to anybody but they do not need to tell them too much if unnecessary. If the officers smell something, then that would explain some prior consumption, but expressing a specific amount can prove detrimental.
Field Sobriety Testing
As far as field sobriety tests go, the average person driving on the road right now is sober, but that average person cannot do field sobriety tests. They are not designed for a driver to pass, they are designed for a driver to fail. It is important for a person to understand that it would be an easy mistake that they could avoid in their DWI stop in New Hampshire by refusing to take the tests. They can watch them on online and look up what the cops could ask them to do in different government publications, but generally, the testing will consist of an officer asking the individual to follow a pen, walk a straight line, and to stand on one leg.
These are the basic principles. If a person cannot stand on one leg without raising their arms for balance for 30 seconds or more, then why do should they do the test they know they will fail. The bottom line is that once they ask a person to do a field sobriety test, they are probably going to get arrested.
If a person does comply with them and they will do their test, they are not going to pass them and now they have got a lot of evidence against them that they have given, and they are going to get arrested with their case being weaker than it would be if they just refused.
Waiting to Contact an Attorney
Individuals who are facing a DWI stop should know not to talk too much to the officer without an attorney’s advice, and they should not incriminate themselves any more than necessary before that. They should slide their window down and hand the officer the license.
A driver can ask to speak to a lawyer at any time, and it is wise if they do so early on in the process. As soon as the questions start, they do not need to tell them the whole life story and what they have been doing all day, but they should say what they were advised with the help of their attorney. They can refuse to answer an officer’s questions and ask for a lawyer right away in the process, and the sooner they do that, the better off they are because they are more likely to be able to suppress whatever it is that they said.