Unlawful Police Stops

DUI Arrests Resulting From Unwarranted Traffic Stops

Before a police officer can stop someone for driving under the influence (DUI) in Virginia, the officer must have a legitimate reason for pulling a person over.  A legitimate reason, in legal terms, is called probable cause.  Without probable cause, any stop that is made by an officer may be considered unlawful.  This means that officers cannot conduct a DUI stop simply because they may have some slight suspicions about a driver.  Instead, they must have strong reasons for stopping people.  For example, if a driver is erratically weaving in between traffic lanes, police would have the right to conduct a DUI stop.

If it has been proven that police made an unlawful DUI stop, any evidence they gathered against drivers may be dismissed.  This means that breath test results and fields sobriety test results can no longer be used as evidence against drivers during their DUI cases.  In some cases, drivers’ DUI charges may be dismissed altogether based upon the fact that they were subjected to unlawful police stops.

Working with a Competent Fairfax DUI Lawyer

Anytime people have reason to believe that they were subjected to unlawful police stops, and they were charged with driving under the influence, they should take the time to meet with a knowledgeable Virginia DUI lawyer, like Attorney Scott C. Nolan.   When handling cases that involve unlawful DUI stops, Attorney Nolan does everything possible to intervene immediately.  By doing this, he saves his clients a great deal of time as their DUI charges may be dropped by prosecutors due to lack of evidence and unlawful police procedures.  Mr. Nolan also knows that some police officers will not tell the truth about why they pulled people over and he is very skilled at proving when traffic stops are in fact unlawful.

If you believe you were the victim of an unlawful police stop, contact Fairfax DUI attorney Scott C. Nolan today for a free consultation.