Will Involuntary Intoxication Work For DUI Defense In California?

Being accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances in California is very serious and could lead to some genuinely severe legal penalties. You will risk losing your driving license, will have to pay expensive fines, will need to attend special alcohol or drug awareness classes, will be obliged to perform community service and, worst of all, may be incarcerated for a very long time.

A reasonable number of people, who were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Los Angeles, claim that they were given date rape drugs and they actually did not have that much to drink. These people are certain that they are innocent and want to use involuntary intoxication as the main defense strategy. While such incidents do happen, using involuntary intoxication defense in court is not that easy or straightforward. After all, it is very difficult to prove that you were drugged or intoxicated involuntarily.

To be more accurate, let’s review the following situation: Rachel meets a nice guy online and decides to go on a date with him. The guy says that he will meet her at a local bar. One night, Rachel goes to the bar and meets the guy from Facebook. They have a nice chat, but she does not really want to drink, so she makes a small sip from her glass. Everything around her goes black and the next thing she remembers is that she was driving her car in a very intoxicated condition, so the law enforcement officers were forced to stop her. She is arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Sure enough, Rachel is shocked and tries to tell them that she was drugged, but the officers arrest her anyway.

Of course, this situation is highly unpleasant, but you will be surprised with how often those things happen to people. The problem here is that it is very difficult to prove anything, In order to provide the court with ample evidence that would demonstrate that Rachel was in fact involuntarily drugged; Rachel will need to go through a series of tests that will determine if the date rape drug is still in her system. At times, people are hesitant to take the test and at times, it is too late to take the tests in the first place. Besides, very often, people, who drank too much at a party, have a tendency to forget how much they were actually drinking. They remember the first sips and their memory simply blacks out all the rest. Hence, it is only natural that the judge and the prosecution hesitate when the offender claims that he or she was drugged and does not remember drinking at all.

In the end, if you were arrested in line with the DUI charges and you have reasons to believe that you were given a date rape or similar drug, it is important not to lose time and to get in touch with a qualified Los Angeles criminal defense law office at the earliest opportunity. They will be able to go through all the evidence, including police reports and test results so as to determine if what you are saying is true. Furthermore, if you are correct and you were intoxicated by someone else, the attorney will do his best to prove your innocence to the court and to make the police go after the offender, who drugged you. Therefore, if you want to prove your innocence, do not hesitate to hire a qualified legal representative and you will never regret it.