14 April, 2014

In case you had any questions about whether there is such a thing as a “legal limit” anymore on DUI cases in Washington State. This should answer that question. A local law enforcement officer was recently arrested for a DUI in Snohomish County, WA. Now this is nothing new, we have seen several police officers get DUI’s in King County here in the past year or so. However the difference between those DUI cases and with this one was this particular officer had a blood alcohol level of 0.05. Yes you read that correctly. 0.05 well below the legal limit of 0.08.

Now I have been saying this for the past year. Because of the high profile vehicular homicide cases that occurred in Seattle last Spring. The drastic change in negotiating policies with DUI cases by the King County Prosecutors Office. The recent proposed legislation to toughen existing DUI laws made by certain states legislators and the Governor. All those things have slowly contributed to this zero tolerance “unwritten rule” that is now happening before our eyes.

The fact that a police officer was arrested for a DUI in Mountlake Terrance with a blood alcohol level significantly less than the legal limit just corroborates what I’m saying. Think about it. If a police officer can get a DUI when they are clearly being responsible and doing what the legislator intended when it created a legal limit and made it lawful to consume alcohol and drive then it can happen to anyone.

I have said it here before and I will say it again. Unfortunately in this day and age you cannot have a drop of alcohol and drive a vehicle. If you get stopped for any reason and the Officer smells an odor of alcohol and you admit to drinking you will get arrested for a DUI. I guarantee that. No matter what anyone else says, I guarantee you will at least get arrested for a DUI. You may not get charged with one if the Prosecutor is doing their job correctly and finds there is not enough evidence to file a charge. But more often than not I have been seeing cases just like that Mountlake Terrance police officer get filed every day.

So please be careful out there and keep what I’m saying in mind. It has become far too common for drivers to get arrested for DUI below the legal limit in King County.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Seattle, WA. He is rated a perfect 10/10 by Avvo.com when it comes to Seattle DUI lawyers. He also has been repeatedly recognized as a Rising Star by the Seattle Met Magazine in the area of DUI Defense, an honor only 2.5% of all Lawyers in WA state receive within their respective field of law.