Gilbert DUI Lawyer Defenses

Field Sobriety Tests – “What Police Don’t Want You to Know”
Good Gilbert DUI Attorneys may get your Gilbert DUI Charges dismissed by challenging the results of your Field Sobriety Tests
Field Sobriety Tests
Field Sobriety Tests (FST) is standardized tests adopted by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To the contrary, many of the best AZ DUI attorneys don’t consider them true or realistic tests, due to their subjective nature and police biases in reporting results. For this reason, many AZ DUI charges are dismissed, evidence suppressed, charges reduced, or other favorable outcomes due to the results of FST challenged by an experienced AZ DUI Attorney who defends DUI charges in Gilbert, AZ.
What Gilbert Police Don’t Tell You
One thing Gilbert Police don’t want you to know is that Field Sobriety Testing is
not required under Arizona Law. Some of the best AZ DUI attorneys disagree on whether or not you should agree to take them when the police ask you to. The reason being, that if you refuse, the police may arrest you on the spot. Some DUI Attorneys will advise you to take them and let your DUI Attorney challenge them through the proper legal channels. The choice is yours. Depending on each person’s set of circumstances, they must make their own choice, at the time of the stop.

FST results are determined by the Gilbert police, and are the least reliable of any Gilbert DUI evidence that can be used against you. It is sad but true that the Gilbert Police may intentionally make it sound like you did more poorly on the tests, then you actually did. . The Gilbert Police want arrests. Gilbert Court wants convictions. But studies have shown that even persons unimpaired by drugs or alcohol may perform “poorly” depending on many factors including stress, intimidation, motor skill capability, fatigue from work, medical impairments and many other factors. This is another reason why they are often challenged by experienced DUI Layers who defend cases in Gilbert. The actual purpose for the FST is to use it as a preliminary source, to assist the officer in determining if further DUI testing is needed. It was never intended to bear the weight of convicting you in a court of law of a DUI. But the prosecution will attempt to place more weight on that evidence if the police report that you performed poorly on the FST.

Below are a sample of arguments for Field Sobriety Tests to be challenged and used as defenses taken from “101 DUI Defense Strategies” © Winning Arizona DUI Defense Strategies © Book to give you an idea of a few defense strategies a good Arizona DUI defense Attorney may use to defend your case by active winning defense Attorney and author James Novak:

• YOU HAD THE DISADVANTAGE OF PERFORMING THE TESTS UNDER UNFAVORABLE ROADSIDE CONDITIONS INCLUDING BY NOT LIMITED TO WEATHER, ENVIRONMENTAL OR LEVEL LANDSCAPING.

• ACCORDING TO MEDICAL EXPERTS, THE HORIZONTAL GAZE NYSTAGMUS (HGN) IS NOT A SCIENTIFICALLY VALID TEST UNDER ROADSIDE CONDITIONS. THE TEST MUST BE PERFORMED UNDER SPECIFIED LIGHTING AND OTHER CONDITIONS THAT SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST DURING A ROAD SIDE ENVIRONMENT.

• THE POLICE TESTED YOU WITH FST WHILE IGNORING THE FACT THAT YOU WERE AN INAPPROPRIATE CANDIDATE FOR ROADSIDE TESTING UNDER NHTSA STANDARDS. SOME ISSUES THAT MAY CAUSE A PERSON TO BE AN UNFAVORABLE CANDIDATE FOR THE TEST INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS, MEDICAL IMPAIRMENTS, AGE, AND MANY OTHER FACTORS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO POOR RESULTS.
• FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS NOT RECOGNIZED BY NHTSA ARE INVALID.

• THE POLICE OFFICER FAILED TO REPORT, INDICATE, OR POINT OUT THE LOCATION AND ROADSIDE CONDITIONS WHERE THE FST WAS ADMINISTERED.

• YOU REFUSED TO SUBMIT TO THE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS. THE POLICE THEN REPORTED YOU REFUSED BECAUSE YOU FEARED YOU WOULD DO POORLY BECAUSE YOU WERE IMPAIRED BY DRUGS OR ALCOHOL.

• YOU DID POORLY ON THE TESTS BECAUSE YOU WERE BEING MISTREATED, ABUSED OR FELT INTIMIDATED BY THE POLICE.

• THE POLICE UNTRUTHFULLY ADVISED YOU, THAT THE FST WAS MANDATORY OR REQUIRE BY LAW.
These are just a few arguments of many that an AZ DUI Attorney can use to challenge Field Sobriety Test results that lead to your Gilbert DUI charges. You should consult a good Gilbert DUI attorney who defends DUI cases frequently. The proper training, education, litigation and defense experience, are needed to properly challenge these issues. FST is just one of many aspects of your DUI that can be challenged in an effort for your Attorney to fight to get your Gilbert DUI dismissed, charges reduced, evidence suppressed or the otherwise best possible outcome in your case.

If you have been charged with any Gilbert Arizona DUI, Extreme DUI, Repeat Offense DUI, Under age 21 DUI, DUI with child under 15 in vehicle, Aggravated Felony DUI, Drug, Felony Drug, Dangerous Drug, Narcotics, Marijuana, any Arizona DUI, Arizona, Arizona Drug DUI, or any other criminal charge including theft, assault, aggravated assault, domestic violence, drugs crimes, probation violations, robbery, computer crimes, ID theft crimes, or any other criminal charges contact the Law Office of James Novak, for your Free Consultation at (480) 413-1499. Speak directly with experienced Arizona Criminal Defense and Gilbert DUI Defense Attorney and James Novak (Former Prosecutor).


The Law Office of James Novak is devoted to handling 100% DUI, Drug & criminal cases in Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa Gilbert Arizona and surrounding areas valley-wide.

This post was intended to provide general information only and is not intended as specific legal advice. You should not rely upon this information alone, but should consult legal counsel regarding the application of the laws and regulations discussed and as applied to your specific case or circumstance.

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