DUI in Los Angeles California: Police Stop For Weaving
California Vehicle Code 21658 is a very common reason for a person to get pulled over by the Los Angeles Police or the California Highway Patrol. When the police pull you over, and the driver smells of alcohol, the police will usually start a Los Angeles DUI investigation. A DUI investigation can easily lead to an arrest in Los Angeles and a DUI arrest will typically lead to a prosecution in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Multiple DUIs within the past 10 years will cause a much harsher punishment including mandatory jail time.
A California Vehicle Code 21658 can be violated when a vehicle straddles the lane, weaves outside of its lane, or even when the vehicle weaves inside its lane.
The law is very vague and permits movement from one lane to another whenever it can be done with “reasonable safety”. This vague and subjective language gives a police officer a lot of discretion to decide what is “reasonably safe” and what is not. Something completely safe in your opinion might be not safe in the opinion of the police officer. Moreover, a police officer who wants to pull you over will find a reason, including stating that your movement, even inside a lane, is not safe.
Defense against an illegal stop for a California Vehicle Code 21658 violation will focus around showing to the judge or the prosecutor that the arresting DUI officer did not have a good reason to pull you over. For example, most CHP vehicles are now equipped with mobile video recorders, called MVARS, and upon request, CHP will produce a copy of the video recording. Showing this video to the prosecutor might convince him or her to dismiss Los Angeles DWI case. Alternatively, if this does not work, a Los Angeles DUI attorney can file a motion for an illegal search and seizure, under the California Penal Code section 1538.5. Winning such motion will get the judge to “suppress evidence of drinking” and collapse the prosecutor’s case. A skilled attorney who practices Los Angeles DUI defense will know how to cross-examine the police officer on the legality of the stop and get a dismissal if the officer did not comply with the law.
Lastly, even if the judge denies a search and seizure motion under the California Penal code section 1538.5, a California Vehicle Code 21658 stop can be used to show to the jury that the officer can not be trusted with a DUI investigation if the stop is clearly a pretext for an illegal investigation. Attorneys at Los Angles DUI attorney firm will help you fight your DUI by exploiting every technical violation in the law by the DUI police investigators. We are skilled in the very technical defense of DUI, a complicated area of law, where science often is the very basis for a defense.
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