DUI Attorney Near Me St. Louis County, MO

DUI Attorney Near Me St. Louis County, MO. Being arrested for driving under the influence in St. Louis County, MO is a serious matter. Whatever the situation, when you are arrested for driving while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, find an attorney you can trust to fight on your behalf and protect your future.

You deserve quality legal representation from an attorney who has a track record of winning in St. Louis County and Missouri. Depending on the details of your case, a savvy DUI attorney near St. Louis County, MO may be able to get the prosecutor to drop the charges, have the charges reduced to lesser offenses, fight the conviction in a trial or work with the prosecutor to negotiate a plea bargain. Most importantly, they will navigate the law and all legal proceedings for your St. Louis County, MO DUI case. For razor-sharp representation after being accused of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, call Combs Waterkotte at (314) 900-HELP.

What is a DUI in St. Louis County, MO?

Though many people refer to it as a DUI (which stands for driving under the influence, the offense is actually referred to a DWI (driving while intoxicated) in Missouri civil and criminal law. Missouri Revised Statute §577.010 and §577.012 outline the definition of the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and lays forth the law Missouri courts must follow to sentence and punish DWI offenders for operating a vehicle with a BAC (blood alcohol content) over the legal limit or while otherwise intoxicated. If you have been arrested in Missouri for a DWI, focus on finding a DUI attorney near St. Louis County, MO who will stand up on your behalf and protect you from unfair treatment by Missouri courts.

A person can be arrested for a DWI in Missouri for a number of reasons. Under Missouri law, it is illegal to drive while intoxicated, including but not limited to driving under the influence of alcohol. Though many DWI arrests in Missouri are done based on accusations of driving drunk, you can also be arrested for a DWI on suspicion of driving a vehicle while impaired by some kind of mind-altering drug.

The DWI law in Missouri criminalizes not only drinking and driving, but also driving while intoxicated by drugs or substances that impair your consciousness or motor skills. That means that a police officer can arrest you if they suspect that you are impaired, including being high as a result of marijuana or THC use or under the influence of narcotics or pharmaceuticals like opiates.

If you were arrested for driving under the influence in Missouri, contact a DUI attorney near you as soon as possible. Chris Combs of Combs Waterkotte is a skilled St. Louis County-based DUI attorney near you. For a trustworthy DUI attorney near you, call (314) 900-HELP.

DUI Stops and Arrests in St. Louis County, MO

It is critical that you know your rights lest you are stopped for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Reach out to Combs Waterkotte at (314) 900-HELP immediately to speak to a leading St. Louis County, MO DUI attorney near you and learn about your rights and what you should do if you are ever stopped when driving in Missouri. And if you were already subjected to being pulled over and arrested for intoxicated driving, our outstanding St. Louis County, MO defense law firm will shield you from injustice in court.

Find out about the rules and procedure for Missouri traffic stops, sobriety tests and sobriety checkpoints.

DUI Traffic Stops in St. Louis County, MO

In order to pull someone over, a St. Louis County, MO or any Missouri police officer must have reasonable suspicion. In the case of a DWI, reasonable suspicion would be things like drifting out of lane, driving on a road going in the wrong direction and any other behaviors such as inconsistencies in speed, swerving or alternating between braking and accelerating.

A police officer must have reasonable suspicion that you were driving under the influence in order to stop you, and are required to meet the more stringent burden of probable cause before they can place you under arrest for a DWI.

If you believe that you were wrongly stopped or arrested for your St. Louis County, MO DWI, reach out to a DUI attorney near you at your earliest opportunity. If an officer stopped you without any reasonable suspicion, even if they then obtained evidence that you were driving drunk, a DUI attorney near St. Louis County, MO can fight to get the prosecutor to dismiss your case so you can move forward in your life.

Sobriety Tests for DUIs in St. Louis County, MO

If you are pulled over by an officer under suspicion of intoxicated driving, they will likely try to get you to do a test to prove that you are under the influence. There are two types of tests St. Louis County, MO police officers typically use in traffic stops for driving under the influence: field sobriety tests and chemical tests.

Chemical Tests (ie. a breathalizer)
When police officers stop drivers in St. Louis County MO for DUIs, chemical tests are often used as evidence to collect evidence that the driver was under the influence at the time of the stop. Chemical tests include tests of the bodily samples from blood to breath to saliva to urine that check for the presence and concentration of substances like alcohol.

Each state has its own laws and many, including Missouri have in place an implied consent law, via which, as a St. Louis County, MO driver or driver anywhere in Missouri, you automatically agree to submit to chemical sobriety tests simply by operating a vehicle. A smart DUI attorney near you will counsel you to know that you can refuse to a breathalyzer or other chemical test, but refusal can carry a criminal charge in itself. Still, you cannot be physically forced to produce a sample.

If you do take a breathalyzer test, speak to an experienced St. Louis County, MO DUI attorney near you to figure out your options and get the best quality defense in your case. As your St. Louis County, MO DUI attorney near you, Combs Waterkotte will obtain discovery documents and comb through them to examine if the breathalyzer or other test was performed legally and whether it should or should not be admissible in court.
Field Sobriety Tests
Field tests are subjective tests sometimes used during a DWI stop that attempt to gauge whether you are impaired by asking the driver to perform motor tasks. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has defined three standardized field tests police officers subject drivers to in St. Louis County, MO and all over the United States.
1. Walk and turn – walk heel to toe in a straight line for nine steps, turn around and repeat in the opposite direction
2. One leg stand – lift one leg six inches above the ground and stand on the other leg for a period of time without losing balance
3. Gaze tests – the officer holds an object and asks the driver to follow the object with their gaze as the officer moves the object
As a Missouri driver, you have the right to refuse to perform a field test. If you are stopped and asked to perform field sobriety tests, call a DUI attorney near you in St. Louis County, MO immediately. If you have already agreed to and participated in a field test and have been arrested for a DUI in Missouri, your DUI attorney in St. Louis County, MO will design an insurmountable defense to your case or ensure that evidence that does not meet Missouri’s rules of evidence such as improperly obtained sobriety tests are not used against you in Missouri court.

Traffic Checkpoints in St. Louis County, MO

A checkpoint is a roadblock temporarily set up on a roadway to systematically screen drivers for behaviors like driving under the influence. Federal law allows the use of DUI checkpoints by police departments, but they must meet certain standards. Lawmakers in Missouri have explored banning sobriety checkpoints, but curent Missouri law still allows their use.

Checkpoints in St. Louis County and throughout Missouri are not as prevalent as they once were, but you should still familiarize yourself with your rights and the rules checkpoints must follow. When it doubt, call a DUI attorney near you at (314) 900-HELP.

A lawful sobriety checkpoint is justified when the police can show it is directly related to public safety. DUI checkpoints should be:

advertised to the public in advance
organized by supervising law enforcement officers
carried out in a way that is neutral to all drivers (i.e. randomly selected drivers)
limited in time
visibly associated with law enforcement

Perhaps most importantly, there must be a logical reason for carrying out the checkpoint related to public safety, usually because the area has an abnormally high rate of drunk driving accidents.

If you approach a checkpoint in St. Louis County, MO, speak to a Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you at (314) 900-HELP. Our determined St. Louis County, MO attorneys will tenaciously defend you and protect your rights in the court of law. Reach out to us online to discuss your case with a compassionate and cunning DUI attorney near you today.

Through Combs Waterkotte, you have access to some of the best criminal defense services in the St. Louis County, MO area. A Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you will fight for your rights and provide you with an infallible defense when you have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in St. Louis County or anywhere in Missouri. In addition, our top St. Louis County, MO defense lawyers can help you with a variety of other kinds of cases, including:

Learn more about the different DUI charges in Missouri and what the DUI attorneys near you with Combs Waterkotte near St. Louis County, MO can do to help you.

Hire a DUI Attorney Near Me in St. Louis County, MO | Combs Waterkotte

There is no time to waste. If you have been stopped or arrested for driving under the influence near St. Louis County, MO, you need to hire a trustworthy DUI attorney near you. A Missouri DWI and similar charges are serious accusations that can carry significant consequences. When your freedom and future are at risk a Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you in St. Louis County, MO can protect you. Contact our St. Louis County, MO defense law firm right away to consult a lawyer about your rights, your case and your future.

St. Louis County, MO