Driving Under the Influence is a serious crime, one for which an individual can be convicted solely on the basis of the police officer’s opinion. In Tennessee, DUI is considered a misdemeanor. However, it attracts severe penalties. And that is why one should contact a Tennessee DUI lawyer to deal with a DUI charge.

DUI Law

According to the Tennessee DUI law, the prosecution has to prove the person was under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he or she was operating or in physical control of a motor vehicle on a public road, highway, alley, parking lot or any other place frequented by public.

Driving with blood alcohol content level of .08% or higher is considered to be driving under the influence. In Tennessee, one can be convicted of DUI if one is found to be driving under the influence of a narcotic. A DUI will apply even if the narcotic has been prescribed by a physician.

Attracts Severe Penalties

According to a Tennessee DUI lawyer, the first DUI conviction can lead to a maximum sentence of 11 months, 29 days and a minimum of 48 hours in jail. If the defendant’s blood alcohol level was .20% at the time he or she was stopped, it could lead to a minimum of 7 days in jail.

With every subsequent DUI violations, the penalties get severer. Second conviction under DUI can even lead to forfeiture of the vehicle being used. Fourth offense is no longer classified as a misdemeanor. It now becomes a Class E felony.

It is obvious that DUI laws are strict and carry severe penalties. However, an experienced Tennessee DUI lawyer can help in having the charge dropped or the sentence reduced considerably.

Need For An Experienced DUI Lawyer

A trained and experienced DUI lawyer will do everything to ensure that the case is resolved in your favor. A good DUI lawyer will not give up simply because your blood alcohol level was above .08% at the time of the offense. He or she will have a look at the calibration records, accuracy checks and maintenance history of the machine being used for the blood test. If any problem is found with the machine, the results will be null and void.

In preparing a defense against DUI charge, a DUI lawyer will try to find loopholes in the prosecution case. The prosecutor case is usually built on four aspects: driving pattern, physical appearance, Field Sobriety test performance and chemical test. A good lawyer understands that finding fault in any one of these aspects can lead to dismissal of the DUI charge. So a good lawyer always takes a close look at these four aspects.

For instance, the physical appearance report presented by the police officer can be a damning piece of evidence. Watery and red eyes all indicate intoxication and this is what the police officer will point out in the report. However, a good lawyer will show that watery and red eyes could also be due to allergy, fatigue or some other reason.

Simply put, a good and experienced Tennessee DUI lawyer will ensure that his or her client is free from the DUI charge or gets the minimum penalty under the circumstances.