Every year in Utah, the punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol gets tougher. The Utah State Legislature has increased penalties for this offense every year. The focus of the Legislature started with a heavy-duty DUI campaign in 1983. New laws and additional sanctions are added yearly.
According to longtime DUI defense attorney, Kelly Cardon, “It gets tougher and tougher.”
On a first-time DUI conviction, an individual can usually expect to serve two to four days in jail and pay fines ranging from $1300 to $1500. First and second DUI convictions are usually Class B misdemeanors unless other factors such as injuries to other drivers or underage drinking and driving are involved. Such circumstances usually increase the charges and penalties.
If a person receives three DUI convictions within three years, the person is considered to be habitual and the county attorney will most likely file the DUI as a felony.
“It’s obviously much more harsh because the judge looks at it as somebody not getting the message, or alcohol is a big problem, or they’re not being responsible about their drinking,” Cardon said.
By law, a person convicted of a DUI with a blood alcohol level of 1.6 or higher must now have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicle. The interlock requires the driver to blow into the device, and they must have less than the legal limit of alcohol in their system for the car to even start. Interlock devices are expensive and cumbersome.
In the past few years, new laws have been made in Utah that now make it a crime to drive under the influence of almost any drug, prescription or street variety. When this law was first passed, it did not carry the same weight in the courtroom as an alcohol-related DUI. Recent laws enacted in Utah read that a driver must merely have a metabolite of a controlled substance in their blood to be guilty of a crime. What this means to the person driving with a prescription drug in their system is a conviction that has the same ramifications as someone driving drunk.
Cardon says most of the people pulled over in this situation will tell the officer that they don’t drink alcohol but will volunteer the information that they do take a prescription drug.
“Because of that law, they can now come over into the DUI area and say, ‘Yeah, but you had it in your system,’” Cardon said.
Blood tests are becoming increasingly common for a resolution to a DUI charge. Cardon recommends blood tests to most of his clients to prove their non-impairment.
The list of prescription drugs that carry a driving prohibition is 11 pages long. It includes medications such as anti-seizure drugs.
“If it’s such a good idea, why don’t the other states do it?” said Cardon of Utah’s law regarding metabolites in the system. Metabolites only show traces of a drug in the system, not recent use.
According to Cardon, these new laws set the standard for all DUI laws and prosecutors in Utah are using them to convict more and more people.
“These people are really exposed. I think it’s an unconstitutional law,” Cardon said.
The first procedure in getting tested to see if a person is driving under the influence is the Standard Field Sobriety Test, invented in North Carolina in 1977. Most of the exercises, such as standing on one foot, are hard for a normal sober person to do. A person who is overweight or over 50 is going to have a more difficult time passing the test than a slender person in their 20’s.
Even if an individual performs well on a field sobriety test, that person will still be given a portable preliminary breathalyzer. In Utah, if the results of the breathalyzer are .08, the results are the same - DUI.
The preliminary breathalyzer results are not absolute since those results are not admissible in a court of law. Different factors can affect the outcome of the test. The variables can include cologne, mouthwash, or any other alcohol-based substance that - once airborne - can alter test results.
If a defense in court is needed for a DUI charge, picking a good attorney is essential. Choosing an attorney who has experience in this particular area of the law can mean the difference between jail and freedom.
“If someone has a high blood alcohol level, then we’ve got to look for holes in the case,” Cardon said.
The Utah Highway Patrol has recently formed a DUI squad. If an intoxicated driver gets pulled over by the UHP - who specifically looks for drunk drivers - then that individual is more likely to go to jail.
“They’ll make a stop for a tail light and they’re more likely to see impairment in their head,” Cardon said.
According to Cardon, getting pulled over by an agency other than the UHP is less likely to end up in a DUI.
“They’re not trying to nail somebody.”
URGENT: If you’ve been arrested for Alabama DUI, the law allows only 10 days for your lawyer to make a request with the Alabama Department of Public Safety for a hearing to save your Alabama Driver’s License. Please contact an Alabama DUI defense lawyer immediately