When the police pull a driver over, a stop based on reasonable suspicion may become a DUI arrest. One factor considered when performing a DUI stop in Maryland involves breath test results. Breath tests check for blood alcohol concentration (BAC), a figure that reveals how much alcohol someone recently drank. Not all BAC tests are the same, nor are they always reliable.
Different BAC tests
A BAC at or above .08 represents a violation of Maryland’s legal limit for driving with alcohol in the system. Anyone with that figure or above surely faces arrest. A Breathalyzer might be the most well-known of the BAC tests. When a driver blows through a Breathalyzer, the device provides a BAC reading.
Other tests check for BAC levels. Blood tests might be more involved than a breath test, but they could be far more accurate. A mandated blood test could tell a clear picture of how much a driver ingested before taking to the road.
A urine test might be more common in the workplace than during a DUI arrest. Urine tests are not always accurate, but law enforcement could choose to use one absent the availability of another test.
Challenging test results
Criminal defense attorneys who handled these types of cases could take a much closer look at the test outcomes. Challenging the results may result in dismissed charges. A blood test that involved a tainted sample might not be accurate, so an attorney could file a motion to suppress evidence.
Other incidents could cast doubts on a test. A driver might have taken something with a trace amount of alcohol that skewed the Breathalyzer results. Also, a law enforcement officer’s mistake could cast doubts on Breathalyzer results. If the court suppresses evidence, prosecuting a case might not be possible.
