Colorado DUI Defense Probable Cause

In a criminal DUI or DWAI prosecution, probable cause to stop the driver of the vehicle may be an issue that can be attacked by your defense attorney. If there is a lack of probable cause, any evidence obtained as a result of the stop must be suppressed. Even if there is probable cause to stop a vehicle, the District Attorney must also justify the investigatory detention of you while the Officer is attempting to gather evidence. Again, if there are insufficient objective and articulable facts upon which to warrant detaining you for a period of time beyond just a temporary stop, then any subsequently obtained evidence should be suppressed. Finally, if probable cause did exist both to stop and detain you for an investigation (including brief question and roadside maneuvers), the Officer must still have found considerably greater amount of evidence of intoxication to warrant an arrest. If the Officer does not have this evidence and arrests you anyways, a motion can be made to suppress any evidence obtained subsequent to that arrest, including the results of any chemical testing of your blood or breath.

The Officer must establish evidence at the end of each of these stages in order to continue with their case against you. If they don’t have evidence at the end of one of the stages, the correct procedure is to LET YOU GO. These stages are the stop, the detention, and the arrest. If they don’t have enough evidence at any one of these stages, our attorneys will file motions to suppress any evidence that was obtained thereafter.