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Can an Attorney Get My Chicago Hit and Run Charge Dismissed?
When you have been arrested under suspicion of DUI in Chicago, the last thing that you want to do is simply accept your fate and plead guilty or try to defend your actions on your own. The complexities of the hit and run case make it near impossible to fight alone, and the testimony of the arresting officers does carry significant weight in the Chicago court system.
These are just some of the ways that your Chicago hit and run attorney can get the charges of the accident dismissed.
Disputing the Testing of the Officer
Once the officer is able to question the driver about the hit and run, they can determine what type of field tests they would like to perform. When the driver is exhibiting signs of impairment, the officer wants to perform field sobriety tests that are recorded and used in the court to help prove the officer’s suspicions. The officer might ask the driver to recite the alphabet, walk a line and return back to the starting position, or stand on one leg with the other leg firmly outstretched. The result of the testing will give the officer reasonable cause to take the driver to the police station for a blood alcohol test.
Your Chicago DUI attorney will carefully analyze each response and movement during the testing to help present a suitable defense. Although the driver might appear impaired, perhaps they tried unsuccessfully to tell the officer they were having a reaction to medication or suffering from an illness that resulted in them causing the incident.
Proving the Blood Alcohol Test Wrong
If the driver has been taken to the police station, they will be given a blood test to see how high the reading is above the 0.08 legal limit. Testing officers will prepare the equipment and administer the test according to strict regulations. If the driver refuses a breath test because of a medical condition, a blood test is offered. When the tests are refused, this is considered to be a refusal and can negatively impact the case for the defendant. Regardless the result, your skilled DUI attorney will work with the results and try to discredit the information to get a better ruling.
Your DUI attorney in Chicago will make certain that the officer on duty was qualified to administer the test, calibrated the equipment correctly, and was certain to uphold the rights of the driver through the entire process. Your attorney will investigate if the equipment used has a history of provided false readings.
Negotiating with the Victim
One of the ways your attorney can get the hit and run charge dismissed is by working with the victim. If the victim is willing to drop the charges in exchange for being made whole, this could bode well for the driver. Your attorney will contact the victim who suffered monetary loss and inquire about how much it will take to make any and all repairs to restore the property to its former state. If the victim simply wants to be made whole and is not interested in a long drawn out case, documents can be prepared as to such and the case could be dropped.
Your Chicago DUI attorney will take care of all the legalities in this instance to be able to close out the case so that it has no negative impact on the driver moving forward. Not only is compensating the driver going to cost less in attorney fees, it will eliminate a trial and black mark on the driving record too.
Uncovering Evidence of Innocence
Even if the officer had reasonable cause to pull over the driver and conduct the field sobriety tests, your DUI attorney could uncover evidence in the case that casts the driver in a different light. The driver might have been coming from the doctor and under duress, or perhaps took new medication that caused them to have a reaction they were not anticipating. The combination of the emotional stress and the powerful medication could have placed the driver in a state that caused them to exhibit signs they were drunk.
When a medical condition is the root cause for the hit and run accident, your attorney has the expertise to put the evidence together in a way that could change the ruling of the judge. This is further enhanced by the fact this driver may have a spotless driving record and no prior criminal record.