What to Avoid during a Police Stop
Interviewer: What are some of the most common mistakes people make that hurt their case?
Exercise Your Right to Remain Silent
Paul: One of the mistakes people make is they answer too many questions. Don’t tell the officer how much you had to drink and when your last drink was.
Should You Refuse All Testing if You Are Considering Refusing Only One OR Submit to All Testing?
Another mistake they make is they will participate in all the standardized field tests, and then get to the station and refuse the Intoxilyzer. Even without the breath test, you do not want field video of someone who’s visibly struggling through the standardized field tests and providing ample evidence of an inference of impairment.
If someone is going to refuse the breath test, and now that’s a crime with an independent penalty, but if someone is ultimately going to refuse the breath test, they are better off to refuse all testing in the case.
What’s the point of refusing the breath test if you’ve handed the officer evidence of impairment by your inability to successfully complete the standardized field tests?
Hire an Attorney Expeditiously but Carefully As Well
Another mistake people make is either not hiring a lawyer, or hiring the first lawyer they speak with without making time to sit down face to face in the lawyer’s office and ask them questions about that lawyer’s practice and the available defenses the lawyer may identify for that particular client’s case.
Attorney Cramm Advises Consulting with at Least Three Attorneys Prior to Choosing One to Represent Your DUI Case
I tell everyone who calls me, “Please make an appointment to see me and please make an appointment to see at least two other lawyers before you make a decision.” I think that that has earned me more clients than it’s lost.
Hiring someone because they were the first person to answer the phone or hiring an attorney because a friend at work used this attorney two years ago is not the best decision you can make. This is serious.
Does Your Attorney Listen Well and Fully Answer Any Questions?
Make three appointments with three lawyers, sit down in their offices with them and get a feel for what’s this attorney’s personality is like. Do they pay attention to me when I’m trying to tell them something? Do they just want to over talk me and quote their credentials?
Ask about their practice. Ask them about available defenses. I think people spend more time picking a plumber for a clogged drain than they do a lawyer for a DUI, and that’s a shame.
Watch this video to learn how Paul Cramm defends DUI and DWI defense and to see why you need his representation in your Kansas City Drunk Driving case.