If you were recently charged and convicted of seriously injuring someone with your car, but the charge and conviction was based on unopened alcohol in your vehicle, you should have an attorney take another look at your case. Hiring a Utah DUI attorney can help in the following ways.

Taking a Second Look at the Arrest

If you had alcohol in your vehicle at the time of the accident, that does not mean you should have been immediately charged with a DUI. As long as the bottles or cans in your vehicle were never opened, there is no physical evidence that you were drinking what was in your vehicle. Blood alcohol tests and breathalyzer tests are the only sure means to proving that you were driving under the influence, and arresting you under the assumption that you were drinking because there was alcohol in the car falls under a possible false arrest case. Also, if you kept the unopened case in your trunk or backseat, the cop who arrested you could've stepped on your 4th Amendment rights and be called out on an unlawful search and seizure. A DUI attorney can take a second look at your case to see if any of these situations applies.

Proving That Other Things Caused the Accident

Your new lawyer will also look at the time of day, the conditions of the road, the amount of lighting on the road at the time of the accident, and also your medical history. Sometimes seizures can cause a person to drive as though he or she is drunk, when in actuality, the seizure is taking control of the person's body and actions. If any of these conditions apply to your situation and they were not addressed in your case by your first lawyer, then your DUI attorney can reopen your case and prove that the accident had nothing to do with alcohol or drugs.

Requesting a Less Severe Sentence

While you may undoubtedly regret your unfortunate accident, you should not receive so severe a sentence when you were either (A) not drinking at all or (B) had trace amounts of alcohol in your system, which are also found in cough medicines and mouthwash. In fact, sdsuduip.com lists over 50 over-the-counter medications that have trace amounts of alcohol. Consult your doctor or pharmacy to verify this evidence. Your attorney can present the evidence in a new light and ask the judge for a lesser sentence. If the only thing that happened was that you injured someone, it may be possible to reduce your sentence to house arrest and/or community service. If someone was killed in the accident, your lawyer can still request a reduced sentence based on the evidence and a previously clean criminal record.