Individuals facing drunk driving charges in New Hampshire are at risk of multiple penalties. The courts can imprison people or compel them to pay hefty fines. A driver’s license suspension is also a standard penalty imposed in many cases.
Those recently arrested after a traffic stop may feel frightened and also frustrated. In some cases, defendants believe that police officers may have broken the law or violated their rights in their eagerness to arrest them.
If the defendant is correct in that assumption, the misconduct of the police officer who arrested them could play a major role and their defense strategy. An attorney can use the exclusionary rule to undermine the state’s case or convince a judge to dismiss the pending charges they face.
What is the exclusionary rule?
There are both state and federal regulations limiting the behavior of police officers in various situations. Typically, they need a reasonable justification to conduct a search or detain an individual. If police officers break the law or violate the rights of individuals, their conduct can undermine the state’s case if the matter goes to trial.
The exclusionary rule is a federal standard that prevents prosecutors from using inappropriately obtained evidence. In a drunk driving scenario, the exclusionary rule often applies when there are questions about the initial traffic stop.
Police officers need a valid reason to pull someone over initially. If an officer did not have an articulable suspicion of a specific traffic violation, then stopping a driver may have been a violation of their rights. A defense attorney could ask the courts to set aside any evidence gathered during an illegal traffic stop.
It does not necessarily matter that the police officer found evidence of potential legal violations during the traffic stop. What matters is that they could only uncover that evidence by first violating the rights of the motorist. The exclusionary rule can potentially lead to the dismissal of impaired driving charges because the state cannot use chemical test results or field sobriety test results obtained during an illegal traffic stop.
Drivers trying to avoid the worst-case scenario when accused of impaired driving offenses may need help evaluating the situation and preparing a defense strategy. Invoking the exclusionary rule is frequently a viable option for criminal defendants impacted by questionable police conduct.
