If you've been charged with a DUAC in SC, a DUAC defense lawyer gives you a starting point to learn more about the charge, the penalties, and some key defenses.
Transcripts
Here's a question we get a lot: “what is driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration or as the initials say D-U-A-C or ‘du-ack?’” Well the first thing you need to know about DUAC is, the most important thing about DUAC. it carries the same penalties as a DUI. To convict you of DUAC the state has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, you drove with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher as shown by your breath test. There are many defenses under South Carolina law that you have you're going to need an experienced DUAC lawyer to find and properly present. Here’s just a few.
The first is video violations. South Carolina law requires all DUAC investigations and breathe tests to be videotaped with limited exceptions. Those videos have to contain certain aspects of the investigation and show the officer taking certain steps. If they don't the case can be dismissed even if the evidence against you is overwhelming.
Another defense can come from an experienced DUAC lawyer's knowledge of how to research the machine you gave your breath sample for. Sometimes, as we say in Spartanburg County, those machines get broke! An experienced DUAC lawyer can figure that out present it properly and get the breath test result thrown out which essentially gets your case dismissed. And one of the most important DUAC defenses is what I call “The catch-all.” South Carolina law lets DUAC suspects present any evidence that calls into question the validity of their breath test. It may be that you drove perfectly fine while you were on the video before you got pulled over. It may be that you look like a regular human being when you're not asked to do those crazy field sobriety tests.
An experienced DUAC lawyer knows how to review your videos to evaluate them for the wealth of evidence that can show you were not your breath test result that night and can cause a jury to decide to find you not guilty. I thank you for thinking that about this with me.
