DUI or Just UI?
Early Sunday morning, a Rochester woman allegedly rolled her car, hit a mailbox, and then drove away. Police later arrested her back at her apartment for leaving the scene of an accident and DUI. The police wouldn’t say why they suspected that the woman was guilty of drunk driving.
And therein lies the problem. Unless this woman told the cops she had been drinking prior to the accident…and not just drinking, but drinking to the point of intoxication…the police had no business arresting her for DUI.
In all states, the crime is driving under the influence. This means that unless the cops can prove that the woman was drunk before the accident, she must be acquitted of the DUI charge. As a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, I encounter this problem on a regular basis. People have accidents (especially hit and runs), get nervous, go home, and start drinking.
Clues from the accident lead the police to the suspect…who is by then oftentimes drunk…when the police then jump to the conclusion that the individual must have been drinking prior to the accident. This assumption frequently results in a false DUI arrest and wrongful DUI charges for the suspect.
