If a police officer didn’t continuously observe you for 15 minutes before a breath test, it may be grounds to challenge the results of the test.
After you have been arrested for a DUI in California, you will be taken back to a police station where you will be required to submit to either a chemical blood or breath test to determine your blood alcohol content (BAC). If your BAC is .08 percent or greater (or lower, if you fall into certain categories), then this will serve as strong evidence that you committed the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol.
However, the police are required to follow certain procedures when taking a blood or breath sample after arresting someone. If they do not follow the procedure, the results of the test may be compromised — and your charges may be called into question because the results are not accurate.
Having a skilled DUI lawyer in Riverside, CA is often the key to successfully fighting a DUI charge. Your lawyer will be highly knowledgeable about all of the procedures that the police are required by law to follow — including observing you for a full 15 minutes before taking a chemical breath test.
The 15 Minute Observation Period
The California Code of Regulations sets our specific procedures that the police must follow before taking a breath sample after arresting a person on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol (remember that if you refuse to take a chemical test after being arrested, you may be subjected to additional charges or penalties).
One of these requirements is that the officer observe you for 15 minutes prior to taking a DUI breath test. According to Title 17, section 1219.3 of the California Code of Regulations, a breath sample “…shall be collected only after the subject has been under continuous observation for at least fifteen minutes prior to collection of the breath sample, during which time the subject must not have ingested alcoholic beverages or other fluids, regurgitated, vomited, eaten or smoked.” The key here is that the observation must be continuous — and the police must be able to state that you did not eat or drink anything, burp, hiccup or vomit during that time.
The reason for this rule is simple: any of the listed factors could impact your breath sample results, giving a false positive or an inaccurate reading. For example, if you regurgitate stomach acid into your mouth or burp up a bit of alcohol, that could lead to a higher BAC reading that does not truly reflect your level of intoxication. The breath test wouldn’t be measuring your blood alcohol content in those cases — but the alcoholic content of whatever was in your mouth at the time. That is incredibly problematic for an accurate DUI breath test result.
In many cases, the police do not actually observe suspects in DUI cases prior to administering a DUI breath test. They may set a time for 15 minutes, but few officers actually pay attention and observe a suspect for the entire time period. They may do paperwork, set up the breath test machine, or they may even try to count the time when they were driving to the police station as the observation period. But unless a suspect was continuously observed for those 15 minutes — something that is impossible to do if an officer is focusing on the road, doing paperwork or otherwise not paying attention — the results of the test may not be accurate, as they could be artificially high due to you burping, vomiting, ingesting alcohol or any number of other things.
Your DUI lawyer in Riverside, CA can challenge the charges against you if the officers did not observe you continuously for the full 15 minute time period — and if they cannot affirmatively state that you did not do any of the things listed in the law. Contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to learn how we can use the 15 minute observation period as a way to challenge your DUI charges. We offer free initial consultations, and will aggressively defend you against all California DUI charges.
