If you believe that your constitutional rights were violated because a Colorado police officer pulled you over without proper cause, and you are now charged with a DUI as a result, contact an experienced Denver DUI defense team to assist you.
One legal defense to your DUI charge is that a police officer unlawfully stopped you. If you believe that the officer had no reason to pull you over, you may have a constitutional defense to your pending drunk driving charge. Sometimes, an otherwise bad case can be won through constitutional motions that can lead to the dismissal or substantial reduction of DUI charges.
Unlawful police stops are challenged in a DUI case by a motion to suppress evidence. This motion is filed with the trial court and alleges that the police unlawfully stopped the vehicle you were driving in a DUI case. This matter is a legal issue, so it is litigated prior to a trial at a motions hearing. Motions to suppress evidence rely on the exclusionary rule, federal and state constitutions, state statutes, and procedural rules.
The exclusionary rule requires judges to suppress evidence that is obtained by the government illegally. For example, if a police officer pulls you over, but has no reason—such as a traffic violation or a reasonable belief that you committed a crime—your constitutional rights have been compromised. You must raise this issue in a DUI case prior to trial through a motion to suppress. If the judge agrees with you, and rules that the police officer was not justified in stopping you, the exclusionary rule holds that any evidence that was obtained as a result of the illegal traffic stop cannot be introduced as evidence in trial. Therefore, all of the evidence including your statements to the police, your performance on DUI roadside tests, and the result of your blood test or breath test are suppressed and excluded from trial.
