Last year the Washington State Patrol reported an 81% increase in DUI arrests over the Halloween holiday. This year the Washington State Patrol along with several other law enforcement agencies, including the Seattle Police, Bellevue Police, Redmond Police, and Shoreline Police departments just to name a few increased their DUI emphasis patrols over the weekend and on Halloween night.

What is a DUI emphasis patrol? It’s exactly what it sounds like. Law enforcement officers are asked to patrol roads and neighborhoods known to be high DUI traffic areas. For example I was out last weekend having dinner with my wife in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. When we left the restaurant we counted three several Washington State Patrol officers, and one Seattle DUI Police Officer just on the way home. And this was fairly early in the evening.

Now imagine that happening all over King County and you will get the idea of how many law enforcement officers are on the road when a King County DUI emphasis patrol is happening. As I have blogged before I think having these DUI emphasis patrols can come very close to sobriety checkpoints (which I previously blogged on). How so you ask? Well think about it when you have a high concentration of law enforcements officers in a particular area and their sole purpose to to stop and investigate for DUI, then you run the risk of just pulling people over randomly or for committing minor traffic infractions. And the purpose of the police contact is not to actually enforce their traffic code, but to check for DUI drivers.

If you decide to go out this Halloween and you’re going to drink the safest thing to do is just not drive. Don’t have a drop of alcohol, as I have always said in this blog there is no such thing as a legal limit in Washington State. I have seen DUI cases in Seattle and other areas in Western WA where the blood alcohol level is below 0.05, which is well below the legal limit. However if you do find yourself in the position where you’re being investigated for a DUI by a Seattle Police Officer or some other law enforcement agency remember these three rules.

Be polite
Don’t agree to do any field sobriety tests
Ask to speak with a DUI Attorney

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle, WA. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI and other traffic offenses. He is rated as a Suburb DUI Lawyer by Avvo.com and has been named a Rising Star in the area of DUI Defense by Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.

With the recent rulings regarding blood test refusal and breath test refusal evidence in King County DUI cases, the question begs can the same analysis be used in a refusal of the field sobriety tests? Recent rulings in Seattle District Court and the Regional Justice Center (formerly in Burien) may suggest the answer is yes.

How is this even possible you ask? Well to understand that question one needs to understand how the refusal of field sobriety tests is important and relevant to the Prosecution. Most King County Prosecutors try and argue that the reason a defendant refused the field sobriety tests is because they were too impaired to perform them and would have failed. Well the truth of the matter is most people decline these tests because they are completely voluntary and they are simply exercising a constitutional right every citizen of this Country has.

Yet despite this most Judges allow the refusal of the field sobriety tests to be admissible in trial, and some even allow the Prosecutor to make the above argument to the jury. As a practicing DUI Lawyer in Seattle, it is my opinion this argument can be quite effective for the Prosecution and oftentimes paints the defendant as a shifty character or someone who knew they were too impaired to drive.

So why are things changing now? That answer is twofold. First, the recent rulings of Missouri v. Mcneely and State v. Guathier cases have made the admissibility of refusal evidence questionable. Secondly is the recent stance the King County Prosecutors Office has taken when it comes to the field sobriety tests. Previously they argued these tests were not a search subject to the 4th amendment, and all the case law in Washington state seemed to agree with them. However recently they have been arguing this is a search and it’s a reasonable one considering the totality of the circumstances and is not subject to the warrant requirement under the 4th amendment.

Now I’m not sure why they have changed their position when it comes to King County DUI cases but they have and I think it is helping make Judge’s decisions easier when it comes to suppressing this refusal evidence. I know of one Seattle DUI case where this issue has been litigated and Seattle DUI Attorney’s motion was granted. It hasn’t been raised yet in the Redmond District Court but Im sure it is on the way. Other Courts have noted it and will soon be litigated.

So long story short. If you’re reading this blog and you have been arrested for a DUI and if you exercised your constitutional right and chose to decline these roadside gymnastics then you may have a chance to get that piece of evidence suppressed in Seattle or another King County District Court DUI case.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a Seattle Bellevue DUI lawyer in Western Washington. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI offenses. He is rated as a 10/10 by Avvo.com as a Seattle DUI lawyer and has been named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.

Let’s say for the past several months you have been having difficulty sleeping. You have tried everything and nothing seems to work. You finally decide to speak with a Doctor and you get a prescription for Ambien. You read the warnings on the bottle that say the drug can cause you to eat, have sex or drive without knowing it and no memory. But you don’t pay any attention to it thinking it’s not really applicable. However after a few weeks of taking the prescription you wake up inside your car. To your shock you were in a car accident, police are questioning you about a DUI, and you’re wondering what the hell happened.

This is called “sleep driving.” And is more common than you may think. Sleep driving” is defined by the FDA as “driving while not fully awake after ingestion of a sedative-hypnotic product, with no memory of the event”. Ambien and other popular sleeping medications like Lunesta are sedative-hypnotic products that can cause this condition.

Sleep driving while under the influence of Ambien or Lunesta occurs after you take the medication, go to sleep, unknowingly wake up, start sleep-walking, and then drive a car. It’s a growing danger with more and more people getting charged with this type of DUI offense in Seattle or Washington State.

The interesting thing about this is even though you are sleep driving and completely unaware of your actions this is illegal. Let me repeat that this is illegal and the police consider this is a DUI and you will be facing a DUI arrest. If you use Ambien, Lunesta or any other “sedative-hypnotic” medication and then drive whether you mean for it to happen or not you will face a DUI. That is the bottom line.

So what can you do if you find yourself in this boat. In Washington State if your facing a DUI charge and this situation is applicable to you the “Ambien Defense” may be available. The DUI laws in Washington State punishes voluntary intoxication NOT involuntary. Involuntary intoxication is intoxication resulting from force or fraud, or from the medicinal use of drugs.

Generally when a person is prescribed a drug by a physician which causes intoxication, that intoxication is involuntary even where the patient is prescribed or inadvertently takes an overdose and even when an overdose is administered to a party by a person not a physician. Thus involuntary intoxication is a defense to a DUI charge if the defendant consumed drugs by force or fraud or is mistaken as to the nature of the intoxication. The defendant has the burden of proving this defense by a preponderance of the evidence. Meaning it is more probably true than not true.

Obviously there is more to this that what I have written in this blog. But this is basically the gist of it. An expert is needed for this type of Defense and an experienced Seattle DUI lawyer is needed to persuasively argue this defense to the jury. If you have been arrested for DUI and you believe this defense is available to you feel free to contact Leyba Defense PLLC for a consultation.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a Seattle Bellevue DUI lawyer. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI and other traffic offenses.

If you have been arrested for a DUI in Seattle, Bellevue, or any other city in the State of Washington. Then one of the first things you should do is register for the alcohol drug information school class or ADIS class for short. I have covered why this is important before in previous blog posts, but what is it?

The ADIS class is a one-day program that lasts at least eight hours. Often times the Victim Impact Panel class is included in the one-day program. So it ends up being a full 10 hours. Usually, these classes last the entire Saturday when they are coupled together. The class focuses on decision-making, as well as psychological, sociological, physiological, and legal consequences of alcohol and/or drug consumption and traffic safety in Washington State.

The mission of the Washington Alcohol and Other Drug Information School (ADIS) is to promote public safety by reducing the number of injuries and fatalities due to driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. Individuals attend this course because their use of alcohol and other drugs has put them and others at risk. The course encourages effective decision-making skills and the reduction of recidivism by providing participants with accurate information about alcohol and other drugs and assisting them in making changes to their high-risk substance use behavior

The ADIS covers four main components.

• Alcohol and Other Drugs & Their Effects
• Use, Abuse & Dependence
• Laws & Consequences
• Decision-making and My Action Plan

There are many locations in Seattle to complete the class. Most classes range anywhere from $100-$200 depending on the place you go. So remember if you’re facing a DUI arrest in Seattle then make sure you keep this class in the back of your mind and get on it as soon as possible.

As a DUI lawyer practicing in Seattle, I can’t tell you the number of times a Prosecutor has decided to offer my client a reduced charge simply because they completed their alcohol evaluation, the ADIS, and VIP classes early on following their DUI arrest in Seattle. It may seem trivial or a waste of time to get it done when you may not have to. But trust me it will only help your DUI case.

About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Bellevue. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI and other traffic offenses. He has been rated as a Superb DUI Lawyer by Avvo, and a Rising Star in the field of DUI defense by Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.