Napa and Sonoma County DUI Defense Attorney

Our attorneys can help if you are pulled over for drinking and driving in Napa or Sonoma County

California's severe DUI laws and accompanying penalties mean that if you have had even one drink and then gotten behind the wheel of your vehicle, you do not want to look into your rearview mirror and see a police car.  Police officers are allowed to—and often will—stop your car based on a traffic violation or the suspicious motion of your car, including weaving, wide turns, or riding the center line of the road.  You may also be stopped at a sobriety checkpoint or roadblock, a valid method for the police to keep people who drink and drive off the road, or to apprehend suspects in other types of crimes.

While you are still in the car, the officer looks for signs of intoxication based on your responses, both vocal and physical, in the course of asking you for your license and registration, or inquiring whether you have been drinking.  You may then be faced with a request to perform a field sobriety test, regardless of whether you had a drink. 

What to do when you are stopped

How you behave when you are stopped by the police can make a tremendous difference to the outcome of the event.  It is very important to be respectful to the police officers throughout the encounter.  It is counterproductive to be antagonistic.  Remaining calm and following these steps is generally your best course of action:

• Provide only requested documentation.  California law requires you to show proof of insurance, a valid driver's license and valid registration. Stay calm as you retrieve this documentation.  Be mindful that the officer is building a case against you and may take nervous or clumsy actions as indication that you are intoxicated.
• Do not answer the officer's questions.  Anything you say or do can be used against you.  If the police think you are drunk, they are also likely to assume that you are understating how much you had to drink or are confused when you say anything in your own defense.  It is safer to simply and calmly respond to each question, "At the advice of my lawyer, I respectfully decline to answer that question."
• Do not attempt any field sobriety test the police ask you to perform.  Again, these tests are flawed and the results can be misinterpreted to mean you are drunk even if you are not.  Again, just say "I respectfully decline your request."
• Do not take a breathalyzer test.  Unless you are under 21 years old, decline doing any type of breath test.  Instead, calmly say, "I respectfully decline to submit to a breath test, but I will consent to a blood test."
• Request a blood test.  Refusing both a breath test and a blood test is violating another law, and you will automatically lose your driver's license.
• Contact a knowledgeable Sonoma County or Napa DUI defense attorney immediately!

Contact a Napa or Sonoma County DUI lawyer

For our clients' convenience, our office is located in downtown Santa Rosa, California, just minutes from the Sonoma County Courthouse and Jail facilities. We are also accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  If you have been stopped and charged with driving under the influence, do not hesitate to call the Law Office of Evan E. Zelig at (707) 636-3204 or Toll Free at (888) ZELIGLAW.

Contact the Law Office of Evan E. Zelig today!