How to Beat a DUI Refusal in Rhode Island

In order to beat a DUI refusal in Rhode Island, you will need to show that there was no reasonable grounds for the police to ask you to take a chemical test. This can be done, for example, by showing that you were not impaired, you weren’t actually driving or other issues in the police investigation and follow up prosecution.

Getting a DUI and a Refusal can be an extremely tough, difficult and stressful experience, especially if it is the first time that the police have pulled you over. It’s important that you understand how the legal process works before, during and after you’re charged with a DUI and Refusal because knowing your rights will greatly help you in the long term.

General Understanding of DUI laws in Rhode Island

DUI laws are particularly complicated and nuanced. In Rhode Island it is illegal to have a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08% or over while you’re driving. It’s important to know that in Rhode Island a first offense DUI with no serious injuries is considered a misdemeanor. If you are convicted of a DUI, your license will be suspended, you will have to pay fines, you will have to do some sort of classes, you will have to do community service and there’s the possibility of jail time. It can be considered a felony if you commit a DUI and seriously hurt somebody or cause the death of another person.

What is the Process of a DUI in Rhode Island?

Getting charged with a DUI is generally divided into two processes:

1) the on scene investigation by the police and

2) the continued investigation at the police station.

The police officer will pull you over after noticing that you’re potentially impaired and if they have enough suspicion, they will request you to do several field sobriety tests. Some are chemical tests like doing a PBT (preliminary breath test) whereas others are field sobriety tests like the One-Leg Stand Test and Walk and Turn Tests. If the police officer believes you’re impaired, they will charge you with a DUI. They will take you to the police station and ask you to do a different chemical test, which is called a breathalyzer test.

Now that you have a general picture of the consequences of being charged with a DUI plus knowing how the process of a DUI works, let’s focus on how DUI refusals can happen.

What is a DUI Refusal in Rhode Island?

In Rhode Island, there’s implied consent in order for you to drive. This means it is implied you are consenting to submit to breath or blood tests in order to analyze your current Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and verify if you’re indeed too impaired to drive. You will receive a refusal charge when a police officer requests you to do breath tests, and you refuse to do the Breathalyzer test at the police station.

Can a PBT reading be incorrect or faulty?

A Preliminary Breathalyzer Test (PBT) is a test done on scene after a police officer pulls you over. It is used to help establish probable cause to arrest a person under the suspicion of a DUI. You have to blow in a tube and the machine will take a reading of your possible BAC. You may think that this machine is always right but in fact, they are not always right. They’re not always reliable and even though they are allowed to be used to arrest you, most of the time they’re not accurate enough to be admissible in court to prove the actual reading was correct for purposes of proving a DUI.

The reasons why they’re not reliable are varied but we can boil them down to:

• Calibration: PBT machines need constant calibration. The lack of regular, precise and constant calibration or a bad calibration can cause faulty readings.
• Human Error: the person handling the PBT must have been trained because there are certain protocols and steps that the operator must do to ensure the most accurate reading possible. If there is improper use, the results may not be accurate.
• Defective Machines: like any other machine or device, sometimes PBT machines can stop functioning correctly over time. A PBT machine that has any hardware or software issues may produce faulty results.

Can external factors affect the reading of a PBT in Rhode Island?

Yes, there is a possibility of some external factors affecting the reading of a PBT. The most common ones are related to underlying medical issues, food residuals or even electromagnetic interference.

You need to understand how the PBT actually works. The machines aren’t programmed to just detect beverages with alcohol but it can potentially interact with any type of ethanol that is present when you do the test. Any type of ethanol can react with the chemicals in the machine and can create a false positive.

This is one of the reasons why the machines aren’t reliable. They can produce false positive results since there could be many possible innocent reasons why there’s ethanol in your mouth:

• Certain mouthwashes use alcohol as a main ingredient
• Certain types of bread could set off the potassium dichromate
• Some medications like cough syrup or cold medicine have alcohol
• Some tobacco with menthol can trigger the test
• Certain stomach diseases can also trigger the potassium dichromate even if you didn’t ingest any type of alcohol
  

Police officers, ideally, should observe and wait with the person for about 15 minutes before administering the test. The person should avoid consuming anything before doing a PBT to avoid potential false positive results. This could potentially be a defense used in court to show a PBT reading was not accurate.

Is a Police Officer’s Mistake a possible Defense to a Refusal in Rhode Island?

Yes, a police officer’s mistake can happen while they’re trying to charge you with a DUI or Refusal because the police officer’s behavior could be incorrect. Maybe they don’t have proper training using the PBT machines or they’re not clear enough with the instructions with the field sobriety test or they could have mishandled evidence.

Can you use camera footage to your advantage for a DUI or Refusal in Rhode Island?

Yes, you can use camera footage to your advantage for a DUI or Refusal in Rhode Island. Police officers should have their body cameras on at all times plus there are cameras in police stations. In addition, some departments have dashcam footage. An experienced lawyer could potentially use the footage to your advantage because if you sound clear and coherent or you aren’t swaying to the sides and have great balance this could be used to your advantage. You may want to obtain the video and show you aren’t impaired from alcohol based on how you look on the video.

Another great use of video is to check if the police officer properly applied all the field sobriety tests. If the instructions of the police are incorrect or the environment isn’t appropriate to do a field sobriety test (like doing it in the middle of a snowstorm or in the rain), or if you have pre existing medical conditions; all of these scenarios, alone or combined, could affect your performance and the police could use this to think that you’re impaired when you’re really not.

Is it a Defense to a Refusal that you weren’t Operating the Vehicle in Rhode Island?

Yes, it is a defense to Refusing to Submit to a Chemical Test if you weren’t actually operating the motor vehicle. There are many factors that the courts will look at to determine if you were actually operating the motor vehicle. This usually comes into play when somebody is in a parked car or the police find the person, but they are not inside their vehicle.

What should you do to challenge a DUI Refusal in Rhode Island?

As you can see, there are many factors that can affect the reading of your BAC on a PBT or your performance while you do a field sobriety test. If you are charged with Refusal, you should consider hiring a skilled and highly experienced DUI attorney, like the attorneys at Ellison Law LLC so they can help you to challenge the reading of a PBT machine or challenge the evidence to ask you to take a breathalyzer test or use the camera footage of the police officer in your favor and help you to seek the truth or other potential defense in your case. Do not hesitate to contact us today at 401-230-5520 for help.