Quote:
Originally Posted by afterburn 549
When i refused they said even with being pronounced innocent by the jury I could not drive in that state for a year.
i thought that was a real weird dishonest deal..
How ever I think that for me was the most EZ recourse.
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Not at all. Refusal is usually an administrative issue that DMV usually handles - when you signed for your license, you gave consent to a chemical test. Renege on that and they yank the license. In some states refusal is a crime. But you're definitely losing your license if you refuse, regardless of whether they can convict you of DUI. In VA, for example, they can't use refusal as evidence of being drunk. So they need dash cam footage or eyewitness testimony to convict on DUI. If you do the field sobriety test, but refuse the breath/blood test, they still may be able to convict. But by then, what does it matter? You're walking for a year because DMV will yank your license for refusal. In NJ they can use refusal as evidence of DUI and it's pretty much a guaranteed conviction then. Just depends on the state.
In AZ they can tie you down and take your blood, which I think it pretty ridiculous. The trick then becomes whether they are allowed to calculate your BAC at the time of the stop or have to use the number they get at the hospital, which, of course, can be a lot lower than it would have been when you were driving. I don't know how that works.