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All of us have had to attend business meeting after work.  They are right there in your business planner.  The fact is that a glass of wine over dinner is socially acceptable and, well, expected.   

The meeting is successful and you start home.  The bright lights ahead, along with that feeling deep in your stomach, confirms that a  San Diego Sobriety Checkpoint is right in front of you.  You quickly go over in your head if that was one glass or two.  Either way, you kick yourself for not reading that article on traffic stops and your rights.  Law enforcement counts on the fact that most drivers don?t know their rights and soon make decisions that do not benefit them.

Here are some facts and information that can determine the positive or negative outcome of your stop:

* When you see the lights and the officer approaching, take a deep breath.  Know that the officers are counting on you to become very nervous and look for these signs to indicate the beginning of guilt.
* Be polite.  Becoming angry or sarcastic only gives the officer the upper hand.
* Remember, you do have rights.  If the officer suspects that you have been drinking, he is going to ask you for your driver?s license and registration, carefully and slowly reach for them and hand them to the officer.
* He is going to ask you a series of questions to get you talking.  Whether you know it or not, your field sobriety test has begun.  He has been trained to smell, look and listen for the obvious signs of intoxification.  What you need to know is that you are not required by law to answer any further questions.  You can politely decline to answer any further questions and ask to have a lawyer present.

* You may (and probably will) be arrested if, at the time you were pulled over, you gave the officers sufficient ?cause? to suspect you had been drinking.  What you need to do now is help yourself and your  San Diego DUI attorney by not willing give the prosecution ammunition to use against you.

* Admit nothing.  It is not against the law to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate you.  Any statements you make during this traffic stop are admissible in court.  The officers will also try and trick you by making statements like ?if you have nothing to hide, why won?t you ask some basic questions??  This should send off an internal alarm inside of you because the officer is trying to ?bate? you into talking and incriminating yourself.  Don?t let your ego get these best of you.

You must know that there are certain instances when you are absolutely required to take a field sobriety test.  If you fall into the following categories, the best advice that can be given is to remain as calm as possible, answer the questions as directly and politely as possible and still ask for your lawyer:

* If you are under the age of 21
* If you have been arrested for a previous DUI offense
* If you are on Probation or Parole for other offenses and cooperation is part of those conditions.  NOTE:  REFUSING TO COOPERATE WHILE ON PROBATION OR PAROLE COULD RESULT IN A VIOLATION.

If you drink and drive or plan on going out for a drink or two, have the name of a friend that you can call to give you a ride written down in the event you need to hand this to somebody else.

If the unfortunate events happen and you are reading this ?after the fact? then I highly suggest that you hire an experienced DUI attorney.  If you have followed some of the above suggestions, you have given yourself the best chance to ?beat? or ?minimize? the outcome.   

Not all stops lead to a conviction; it?s up to you to.

Originally published here.

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