Driving under the influence (DUI) or Driving while ability impaired (DWAI) has become, it seems, the most sought-out and most prosecuted criminal offense. As such, DUI/DWAI prosecutions affect individuals in every type of social, economic and cultural class. Know your rights if you are suspected of DUI/DWAI.
To begin with, the rights you enjoy in your home or walking on the street are less when you are in an automobile. This allows police to stop you in an automobile when they have reason to believe you have committed even a minor traffic offense. Often, the belief that a minor traffic offense was committed leads to a DUI investigation and arrest.
If you are stopped by an officer while you are driving a car, you will be asked to provide your driver's license and vehicle registration. This does not mean that you need to make any admission regarding your conduct, whether it be that you knew what the speed limit was and you exceeded it, or that you had been drinking prior to driving. If the police ask you to make any type of admission, simply tell the officer that you are asserting your right to remain silent.
If an officer suspects that you have been drinking, (s)he may ask you to step out of the vehicle and perform "voluntary roadside maneuvers". Police almost never tell you that you may refuse "voluntary roadside maneuvers", leaving you to assume so just because they described the maneuvers as "voluntary". You do not have to perform "voluntary roadside maneuvers". Police must have probable cause to ask you to take a blood or breath test and the "voluntary" roadside maneuvers is one way they obtain probable cause with your permission.
If you are asked to take a blood test at a hospital or a breath test at the police station, YOU CANNOT REFUSE without serious consequences to your driving privileges. In Colorado, your driving privilege includes your consent to such a test; this is why refusal will cause you to lose your driver's license. Second refusals cause an even greater loss of driving privlileges.
Sometimes, the police ask you to take a preliminary breath test (PBT) at the scene. This is a hand-held device that is not certified, not calibrated and not in any way assured of its proper mechanical functioning. Police may use the PBT to obtain probable cause with your consent. You do not have to consent to a PBT at the scene. Don't confuse a PBT, which you do not have to take, with a non-portable breath test or Intoxilyzer, which you must take to preserve your driving privileges. When in doubt, ask the officer what the consequences are for refusing the test and remember that the small, portable test is not required of you, but the non-portable (not on scene) Intoxilyzer is required to preserve your driving privileges.
You also need to know about critical time lines that begin on the date that you are arrested for DUI/DWAI. The police will take your license and you have 7 days to request a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Requesting a hearing will, at the very least, preserve your right to drive until the hearing.
Also, many Grand Junction Police officers have in-car videos of DUI/DWAI arrests, but they only preserve these videos for 30 days after your arrest. A lawyer can request this for you, but there will be no video after 30 days. The video may contain information crucial to your defense of DUI/DWAI.