Chicago attorneys for field sobriety test evidence

Understanding the Significance of DUI Sobriety Tests in Illinois

The motor skills exercises that an arresting officer might put a drunk driving suspect through are known as field sobriety tests, and they serve a variety of functions. An experienced criminal defense lawyer knows how to evaluate the use of the various forms of field sobriety testing, and can also use the analysis in different ways to benefit the client.

Contact the Law Office of Robert Kerr, LLC, in Chicago to learn how field sobriety evidence in your case can end up helping your defense. We offer free consultations, and we understand the ways that law enforcement officers use and misuse field sobriety test results.

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A driver pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving has the right to refuse field sobriety tests. Asking a driver to walk a straight line or follow a light from side to side is usually part of the DUI investigation. By submitting to field sobriety tests, you’re providing incriminating evidence to the officer that will be used against you at trial. The arresting officer is not required to read you your Miranda rights prior to requesting your participation in field sobriety tests; however, other legal grounds may provide for the suppression of incriminating evidence. The Law Office of Robert Kerr is prepared to aggressively defend your rights and to keep evidence of intoxication from being used against you in your DUI case.

At the Law Office of Robert Kerr, our attorneys also know how and when to challenge field sobriety evidence on procedural grounds: the officer may have administered certain tests without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, the officer might not have been certified to administer a particular test, the particular test administered might not have been right for the particular suspect, or the officer may have recorded the results improperly.

Field sobriety testing is often used to establish or strengthen probable cause for a DUI arrest when the officer gets the chance to assess the suspect’s appearance, demeanor, speech and odor, as well as his or her ability to follow the field sobriety test instructions. Our defense lawyers can review the evidence and the way it was obtained in order to challenge the arrest or other aspects of the prosecution’s case.

We can also use field sobriety evidence to strengthen your position at an administrative hearing on your license suspension. It can even support a petition to rescind the statutory summary suspension of your license or the loss of driving privilege that typically occurs whenever the suspect fails or refuses blood alcohol testing.

Find out more about the ways experienced defense lawyers work with field sobriety evidence in Illinois DUI cases. Contact the Law Office of Robert Kerr for a free consultation.