Fresno DUI Breathalyzer Information | Central Valley Drunk Driving Attorneys

The Law Offices of Michael E. Mitchell is committed to providing you the most thorough, vigorous and aggressive Criminal and DUI defense possible. We will pursue all avaible avenues to defend your case. Our in depth investigation often means the difference in whether a person is convicted of a Crime or DUI.

The Law Offices of Michael E. Mitchell is the Central Valley's preminent Criminal and DUI law firm. When it comes to your representation, rest assured that your case is being handled by an attorney experienced in Criminal and DUI defense.

If you were given a blood test based on suspicion of driving under the influence or DUI/DWI, you still have defenses available to contest the result. The person who drew the blood sample must be properly licensed under Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations. Only a person who qualifies as a blood drawer under the law is allowed to take your blood sample. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that an unlicensed person drawing blood is subject to a fourth amendment challenge as a procedure which "shocks the conscience," since the government is subjecting the DUI suspect to the risk of infection and sickness.

In addition, if the blood sample is contaminated this may result in an inaccurate result. For instance, if the drawer failed to properly sterilize the area where the blood was drawn, contamination could result.

Blood samples must also be stored in distinct vials. These special vials must have just the right amount of preservative to make sure that the blood sample does not ferment. If the vial does not have the right amount of perservative the sample will actually ferment and the blood alcohol concentration will rise. This will give a result that is artificially high. If the vial does not have the right amount of anti-coagulant then the result may be compromised as well. Failure to promptly refrigerate the sample may also be a source of an inaccurate result.

In some cases, it just may not be your blood! It is not unheard of for labs to mislabel results and mix up blood samples in DUI cases. Remember, during a normal week most labs are handling hundreds of samples from various driving under the influence cases. In your DUI/DWI case, we can have your sample retested to see if it matches your blood type. If it comes back as another blood type, you can imagine the weakness this creates the district attorney's DUI case.

If your case involves a driving under the influence charge as a result of either prescription or non-prescription drugs you may be in luck. The Department of Justice (DOJ) , Bureau of Forensic Services, the so-called DUI experts for the prosecution, have concluded that quantitation of a drug in a blood sample does not relate to impairment of one's ability to drive. According to DOJ, there is no scientific literature that relates a certain quantity of a drug in the blood stream to impairment, except in the instance of alcohol. This is an instrumental conclusion that may help your DUI case to be dismissed or severely reduced if the charge is based on drugs in your system.

The Law Office of Michael E. Mitchell defends clients charged with DUI / DWI and traffic offenses in California's Central Valley and San Joaquin Valley, including Fresno County, Tulare County, Merced County, Madera County, County of Kings, Mariposa County, Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Madera, Kings County, Mariposa, Visalia, Hanford, Dinuba, Los Banos, Selma, Kingsburg, Clovis, Sanger, Reedley, Kerman, Parlier, Coalinga, Firebaugh, Fowler, Mendota, Visalia, Avenal, Corcoran, Lemoore and Lemoore Naval Air Station (NAS), Porterville, Bass Lake, Shaver Lake, Millerton Lake, Hensley Lake, Pine Flat Lake, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park. We also defend motorists pulled over for traffic violations along San Joaquins roads and highways including interstate 5 and highways, 49, 41, 99, 168, 192, 180.