St. Joseph, MO

DUI Attorney Near Me St. Joseph, MO

DUI attorney near me in St. Joseph, MO. Being arrested for driving under the influence in St. Joseph, MO is a serious matter. Whatever the details of your situation, when you are facing a conviction for driving under the influence by drugs or alcohol, find an attorney you can trust to protect your rights and your future.

You deserve a talented defense attorney who knows their way around DUI cases in St. Joseph and Missouri. Depending on the circumstances, a savvy St. Joseph, MO DUI attorney near you will make the best of your situation. They may be able to get the prosecutor to drop the charges, have the charges reduced to lesser offenses, fight the conviction in a trial or negotiate a lesser punishment through a plea bargain. Most importantly, they will use the law to your benefit and guide you through all legal proceedings for your St. Joseph, MO DUI case. For dedicated, aggressive defense against injustice after being accused of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, call Combs Waterkotte at (314) 900-HELP.

What is a DUI in St. Joseph, MO?

Though people often refer to it as a DUI (which stands for driving under the influence, Missouri courts actually call the offense a DWI (driving while intoxicated). Missouri Revised Statute §577.010 and §577.012 lay forth the definition of the crime of driving under the influence and defines the guidelines for sentencing and punishments for DWI offenders, with the latter specific to driving with a BAC, or blood alcohol content, over the legal limit. If you have been arrested in Missouri for a DWI, you deserve a DUI attorney near St. Joseph, MO to fight for your freedom and protect you from unfair treatment by Missouri courts.

A police officer may arrest someone for a DWI in Missouri for a variety of reasons. The law outlaws driving while intoxicated — not explicitly for driving under the influence of alcohol. Though many DWI arrests in Missouri are done based on drunk driving allegations, you can also be arrested for a DWI on suspicion of driving a vehicle while under the influence of some kind of intoxicating substance.

The DWI law in Missouri criminalizes not only drinking and driving, but also driving while intoxicated by drugs or substances that impair your consciousness or motor skills. That means that you can be subject to arrest if a police officer believes that you are impaired, including due to ingesting marijuana or even narcotics or pharmaceuticals like opiates.

If you were arrested for driving while intoxicated in Missouri, reach out to a DUI attorney near you as soon as possible. Chris Combs of Combs Waterkotte is a skilled St. Joseph-based DUI attorney near you. When you need a DUI attorney near you whom you can trust, call (314) 900-HELP.

Getting Stopped or Arrested for a DUI in St. Joseph, MO

You owe it to yourself to know your rights lest you are pulled over for operating a vehicle while under the influence. Speak to an experienced St. Joseph, MO DUI attorney near you with Combs Waterkotte at (314) 900-HELP to understand your rights and what steps to take if you are ever stopped when driving in Missouri. And if you were already subjected to being pulled over and arrested for driving drunk or high, our outstanding St. Joseph, MO defense attorneys will fight for your freedom and justice.

Learn the rules and procedure for regular traffic stops, sobriety tests and checkpoints.

DUI Traffic Stops in St. Joseph, MO

In order to pull someone over, a St. Joseph, MO or any Missouri police officer must have reasonable suspicion. In the case of a DWI, reasonable suspicion could be represented by behaviors like like drifting out of lane, traveling on a road going in the wrong direction and any other behaviors such as driving extremely slow or fast, swerving or stopping and going.

A police officer must have reasonable suspicion that you were driving under the influence in order to stop you, and are required to meet the more stringent burden of probable cause before they can arrest you for a DWI.

If you believe that you were wrongly stopped or arrested for your St. Joseph, MO DWI, reach out to a DUI attorney near you right away. If an officer stopped you without any reasonable suspicion, even if they have proof that you were driving intoxicated, a DUI attorney near St. Joseph, MO will fight to get the prosecutor to dismiss your case so you can put this behind you and be free.

Sobriety Tests for DUIs in St. Joseph, MO

If a law officer stops you under suspicion of drunk or drugged driving, they will likely try to get you to do a test to prove that you are intoxicated. When it comes to roadside tests used by St. Joseph, MO police officers to determine intoxication, there are two primary types they may utilize: field sobriety tests and chemical tests.

1. Chemical Tests (ie. a breathalizer)

   In St. Joseph, MO stops for driving while intoxicated, they often turn to chemical tests to prove that the driver was under the influence at the time of the stop. There are a few different types of chemical tests using bodily samples from blood to breath to saliva to urine that are meant to identify the presence of and/or measure the concentration of various substances including alcohol.

   Like most US states, Missouri has in place an implied consent law, pursuant to whichSt. Joseph, MO and other Missouri drivers automatically agree to participate in chemical sobriety tests just by getting behind the wheel. A good DUI attorney near you will counsel you to know that you can refuse to submit to a breathalyzer, but you can face legal consequences for the act of refusing the test. Still, the police cannot physically force you to produce a sample.

   If you already did a breathalyzer test, speak to an experienced St. Joseph, MO DUI attorney near you to figure out your options and get the best quality defense in your case. As your DUI attorney near St. Joseph, MO, Combs Waterkotte will obtain discovery documents and comb through them to conclude whether the breathalyzer or other test was performed legally and whether it should or should not be admissible in court.

2. Field Sobriety Tests

   Field tests are subjective tests sometimes used during a DWI stop that attempt to gauge whether you are intoxicated through a series of demonstrative tasks. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has specified three standardized field tests police officers subject drivers to in St. Joseph, MO and throughout the United States.

   1. Walk and turn – walk heel to toe in a straight line for nine steps, turn around and repeat in the opposite direction
   2. One leg stand – lift one leg six inches above the ground and stand on the other leg for a period of time without losing balance
   3. Gaze tests – the officer holds an object and asks the driver to follow the object with their gaze as the officer moves the object

   It is your right in Missouri to refuse to perform a field test. If you are stopped and asked to perform field sobriety tests, call a DUI attorney near you in St. Joseph, MO as soon as you can. If you have already agreed to and performed a field test and were then arrested for a DUI in Missouri, your St. Joseph, MO DUI attorney will build an impenetrable defense to your case or ensure that evidence that does not meet Missouri’s rules of evidence such as improperly obtained sobriety tests are not used against you in Missouri court.

Traffic Checkpoints in St. Joseph, MO

A checkpoint is a roadblock temporarily set up on a roadway to randomly check drivers for driving under the influence. Federal law allows the use of DUI checkpoints by police departments, but they must meet certain standards. Missouri legislators have debated banning sobriety checkpoints, but curent Missouri law still allows police to use them.

Police departments in St. Joseph and around Missouri do not use checkpoints as heavily as they used to, but you should still familiarize yourself with your rights and the rules regulating checkpoints. If you are not sure, speak to a DUI attorney near you at (314) 900-HELP.

A lawful sobriety checkpoint is justified when the police can show it is directly related to roadway safety. A lawful DUI checkpoint is:

• advertised to the public in advance
• sanctioned or planned by supervising law enforcement officers
• carried out in a way that is neutral to all drivers (i.e. randomly selected drivers)
• limited in time
• clearly associated with law enforcement

Perhaps most importantly, there must be a logical reason for carrying out the checkpoint related to public safety, .

If you approach a checkpoint in St. Joseph, MO, call (314) 900-HELP to talk to a Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you immediately. Our determined St. Joseph, MO attorneys will tenaciously defend you and protect your rights in the court of law. Reach out to us online to discuss your case with a kind and cunning DUI attorney near you today.

Through Combs Waterkotte, you have access to some of the best criminal defense services in the St. Joseph, MO area. A Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you will fight for your rights and navigate the legal process when you have been accused of driving under the influence in St. Joseph or anywhere in Missouri. Our team of St. Joseph, MO attorneys have expertise in a variety of other case types, including:

• Gun Crime Lawyer
• Child Abuse & Neglect Lawyer
• Homicide Lawyer
• Assault Lawyer
• Rape Defense Lawyer
• Sex Offense Lawyers
• DWI Attorney
• Crime Defense Lawyers
• Domestic Violence Defense Attorneys
• Child Pornography Defense Lawyer

Click below to learn more about different kinds of DUI cases in Missouri and how Combs Waterkotte’s DUI attorneys in St. Joseph, MO can defend you.

• DWI/DUI Lawyer in St. Louis
• CDL DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• DWI Accident Lawyer in St. Louis
• First Offense DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• Marijuana DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• Second Offense DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• DWI with Drugs Lawyer in St. Louis
• Felony DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• Hit and Run DWI Lawyer in St. Louis
• Other Criminal Defense Cases

Hire a DUI Attorney Near Me in St. Joseph, MO | Combs Waterkotte

Do yourself a favor and act now. If you were stopped or arrested for driving under the influence near St. Joseph, MO, find a DUI attorney near you whom you can trust. A Missouri DWI and similar charges are serious accusations that can carry significant consequences. When your freedom and future are at risk a Combs Waterkotte DUI attorney near you in St. Joseph, MO can protect you. Contact our St. Joseph, MO defense law firm now to consult a lawyer about your rights, your case and your future.