If your constitutional rights have been violated during the course of a DUI stop, you should consult your attorney. Constitutional issues allow the defense to call the state’s evidence into question. In some cases, using constitutional issues as a West Palm Beach DUI defense can strengthen your defense. Call an experienced DUI Lawyer immediately after arrest to protect your rights, reputation, lifestyle, and livelihood.
How Constitutional Issues are Treated in West Palm Beach DUI Cases
Constitutional issues are treated seriously in DUI cases. When a constitutional issue is raised, the burden of proof to prove that a person’s constitutional rights were not violated shifts to the Government. As a DUI defendant, a person does not have to prove that their constitutional rights were violated; they simply have to allege that their constitutional rights were violated, and then the burden of proof shifts to the government to prove that they were not violated.
The constitution is the set of rules that have been there for 250 years. There are a set of rules and policies that are created by our founding fathers in order to make our society the great one that it is. No one has a right to violate these rules. When there is an alleged violation of the rules, it is taken seriously and the government must answer to an alleged violation of those rules and prove they did not If the government cannot refute an allegation of a constitutional violation, evidence will be eliminated. Using constitutional issues as a West Palm Beach DUI defense can sometimes strengthen an individual’s case.
Interpretation of the Constitution
Interpretation of the constitution will generally come from the courts. The law relies on precedents. If there is precedent in some other court either locally or outside the jurisdiction, the court will look to that interpretation for guidance in how to decide a constitutional issue in a West Palm Beach court.
There are prior court decisions written by judges in the Circuit Courts, the District Courts of Appeals, the United States District Courts, the Court of Appeals of the United States, and the United States Supreme Court. A local trial judge will look to prior decisions made in other courts either in the jurisdiction or outside the jurisdiction, either in the State of Florida or outside the state, that address similar facts and similar issues that involve the Constitution.
Search and Seizure Issues
One of the elements that an attorney may look at when using constitutional issues as a West Palm Beach DUI defense is whether the police had the right to pull the person over in the first place. American citizens are protected from, unreasonable searches and seizures, per the Fourth Amendment. Individuals also have the right to privacy, as stipulated in the Florida Constitution. Search refers to actual inventory of the person or property, and seizure is a physical detaining of the person.
Search
Search is whether or not the police have the right to search the person, search the car, or search the personal items that are along with the person. Then, a reasonable search would be something that is just not just defined by law, something that is just not defined by facts, or something that was done either without a warrant or just based on suspicion that is not sufficient to trigger the reason for a search. A warrantless search is a search that is done without prior approval by the court. A warrant is written permission from a Judge based upon specific circumstances specifically stated in a sworn application by law enforcement that would justify a search of a person or a property, looking for a specific item. Anything that does not have a warrant, that does not have prior permission from the court, is called a warrantless search.
Seizure
Seizure refers to whether a person is being held legally, and that is defined as, whether a reasonable person would feel that they were free to leave or not. If the reasonable person felt that they were free to leave, then they are not seized but if a reasonable person would think that they are not free to leave, then that is a seizure.
A lot of times, individuals wonder what they should do if an officer pulls them over. People should ask if they are being detained. If the answer is no, then they are free to go and should do so. If a person is being detained on suspicion of a DUI, they should refrain from speaking until they have talked to their attorney.
Value of a West Palm Beach DUI Lawyer
using constitutional issues as a West Palm Beach DUI defense
