Lawrence Taylor (retired) is interviewed by Richard Jacobs from MyDUIAttorney.org on Mr. Taylor’s stance on the law governing DUI and some specifics about how cities and municipalities are using DUI roadblocks to raise revenues. When Mr. Taylor began practicing DUI defense, there was a simple law that said, thou shall not drive under the influence of alcohol. This is no longer the law, as the focus now is on blood alcohol content. The laws on DUI today give the prosecutor a distinct advantage in being able to charge an arrestee with not only DUI, but also driving under the influence of .08 blood alcohol. If a DUI case goes to jury trial and the jury cannot make up their mind, that is reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt is the burden of proof in a criminal case and, as such, the defendant should be acquitted. However, what the jury does is enter a compromise, where they convict on one count but dismiss the other count. In the end, the defendant suffers the same consequence as if there had been two convictions. These days’ municipalities and cities are deriving large sums of revenue by having DUI roadblocks. Very few DUI arrests result from these roadblocks and, in essence, they are very ineffective when it comes to taking DUI suspects off the highways. What they are effective in doing is citing hundreds of people with tickets for such things as drivers licenses that are not current, tinted windows, and out of date registration or insurance, which in turn leads to a large source of revenue for the municipality or city.
By
The Law Offices of Taylor & Taylor
