DUI in Washington State

is the act of operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol (ethanol) or other drugs, to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. It is illegal in most jurisdictions within the U.S.

If you are accused of a DUI in Washington State, a qualified DUI lawyer can help you undergo the seemingly overwhelming legal ordeals at hand.

An expert DUI lawyer will invest a great deal of time and effort into your case and lead you through the maze of court proceedings, hopefully winning you a verdict of "not guilty" or at least, negotiating a lesser charge.

If you're convicted of DUI in Washington state, the stiff penalties can dramatically impact your life. In addition - you won't find "loss of job" listed in the DUI penalty statute, a DUI arrest can have a devastating impact upon your continued employment.
 

You should retain a qualified Washington DUI Lawyer immediately after your arrest.

A Typical Washington DUI Arrest Timeline

The following is what can happen when a law enforcement officer has a reason to suspect a driver is intoxicated. Some possible reasons are erratic driving, poor coordination, and/or the presence of the smell of alcohol.

Field sobriety test
The officer will administer one or more field sobriety tests (FSTs). Some common FSTs include having the driver:

• try to walk in a straight line, heel-to-toe

• tip his or her head back with eyes closed and try to touch the tip of the nose with the index finger

• stand on one foot

• reciting all or part of the alphabet.

FSTs are more effective at determining the level of impairment than they are at estimating the driver's BAC.

The (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has scientifically determined that three FSTs are statistically reliable in detecting impaired drivers. These three "standardized" tests (SFSTs) are the "Walk and Turn" test, the "One-leg Stand" and "Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus" in which a law enforcement officer observes the discrete movements of a person's eyes when tracking a stimulus across their field of vision.


Chemical test
If arrested, the driver is brought to the police station, and given one or more chemical tests: breath, urine, and/or blood. Breath test results are usually available immediately and are sometimes given before the actual arrest takes place; urine and blood samples are sent to a lab to determine the BAC. In some jurisdictions, refusing to take a breathalyzer test is an offense in itself, often creating an automatic presumption of guilt under the law.

If a person is involved in a motor vehicle accident involving a fatality or serious physical injury, and is suspected to be intoxicated, some jurisdictions permit the police to forcibly take a sample of the driver's blood without their consent. This is usually only done after a warrant is obtained from a judge.

While chemical tests are used to determine the driver's BAC, they are unable to determine the driver's level of impairment. In addition, their accuracy is disputed by some (see blood alcohol test assumptions). In any case, tests can only determine the BAC at the time the test is taken, which can be higher or lower than when the vehicle was actually operated. Since it would be impossible to obtain a chemical test while the driver is actually operating the motor vehicle, chemical tests are the primary means used to prove intoxication or impairment.

Next step
If it is determined that the person is not legally intoxicated, they might be released without any charges. However, many jurisdictions have charges which don't require a particular BAC, and tests for some drugs (such as GHB) will not show up in a test designed for alcohol.

Most of the time, the driver will either be kept in a holding cell (the "drunk tank") until they are deemed sober enough to be released, or sent to jail to wait for their first court hearing (or until they can get bailed out).
 

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