How Do Colorado Police Test Drivers for Marijuana?
Thomas, Ahnell, Laraway & Smith, LLC
Denver DUI Attorney Explains Faults of Marijuana Testing
Due to the way that marijuana works in the body, especially in habitual users, proving impairment in marijuana DUIs can be dubious.
In this video, Colorado drugged driving attorney Jake Johnson explains the shaky science behind marijuana blood testing and how an attorney can help people in Denver accused of driving under the influence of marijuana fight their charges.
For more information about marijuana DUIs in Colorado, call us at (720) 542-6148.
Transcription:
If they think that you’re under the influence of marijuana as opposed to alcohol, they’re going to tell you, “You can only do a blood test.” Going into a blood test, they’re going to take you to a fire station, a police station, somewhere like that, maybe a hospital, somewhere that’s safe and secure, take you there to do a blood test. There’s some protocols that they have to go through, very particular protocols they’ve been trained on. They’ll go through, they’ll draw two vials of blood. One of those vials is for the police, one of those vials is actually for you. You’re actually entitled to have that re-tested by your own independent laboratory so that you can really verify their results to make sure that it’s coming out accurate.
So, the fundamental problem with marijuana DUIs is that there are quite a few people that will smoke a few days beforehand, and I think most people are aware that the way marijuana works in your body is that it tends to stick around. Particularly for people who use marijuana frequently or heavily, it’s very possible that they could use marijuana the day before, even a month before and they could still have it in their system. So when that causes problems is when somebody gets pulled over, they do a blood test, it comes out positive. Well, look, it may come up positive but that doesn’t mean that you were under the influence at the time you were driving.
Here at Thomas Law Firm, typically what we do when we get a blood test result is we actually have an independent lab that we work with and we’ll typically go to him and say, “Doctor, here’s the lab test, here’s what it came out at, can you help me understand with this particular person whether or not it’s likely that they were under the influence? Is there a possibility that they were not?” We like to set up interviews with our clients with him so that he understands their use history and how often they use, their body type, and he’s really able to give us an idea as to whether or not it’s possible that at the time they were driving, even though their tests may show that it’s positive, they were totally fine.
Can I Use a Public Defender for Denver DUI Defense?
Denver DUI Attorney Explains Differences between Public Defenders and Private Lawyers
Depending on whether you are in police custody and your financial situation, you may be entitled to representation by a public defender for your DUI defense case. However, you should strongly consider the services of a private DUI attorney instead. Our law firm has a lot of respect for public defenders and the important work that they do. However, the public defender’s office is often overburdened with cases. In this video, Denver DUI lawyer Will Smith explains the differences between private attorneys and public defenders.
To speak to a Colorado DUI defense lawyer, you can call us at (720) 542-6148 or contact us through our site here.
Transcription:
Whether somebody can get a public defender or not entirely depends on their circumstances. Normally, if someone is in custody, they are entitled to a public defender, normally. If you’re out of custody, normally, you’re looking at different financial guidelines as to whether or not you qualify for effectively publicly paid representation, so you have to meet certain income guidelines, depends on the size of your household, your income, etc. Ultimately, the public defender’s office here in Colorado is fantastic. They do a nice job, no doubt about it. The difference between the public defender’s office and a private firm like myself is, first, you can choose your attorney. With the public defender’s office, they will assign you an attorney who may or may not have a large caseload, and you do not get to choose who helps you with your case. A private attorney, you get to choose. You get to sit down and get to, in the case of my firm, you sit down with me, you will discuss the specifics of your case and you can rest assured that I’m going to work with you to do everything we can to get you the best outcome possible.
How Do Colorado Police Test Drivers for Marijuana Use?
Colorado DUI Lawyer Explains Field Sobriety Tests
What are the major three components of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test, and is the SFST given to drivers suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana? In this video, Colorado DUI attorney Jake Johnson explains the SFST including the walk and turn, the one legged stand and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test.
To speak to a Denver DUI lawyer about your marijuana DUI case, call us at (720) 542-6148 or contact us here.
Transcription:
So, if officers think that you’re under the influence of marijuana, it can go a few different ways. A general officer has had the regular training that they’ve been taught in their generalized school, and so they’re going to do a few tests. The big three are horizontal gaze nystagmus, that’s a finger test where they have you follow your eyes and what they’re looking for there is jerking of your eyes, that your eyes are not able to focus, things of that nature. The next one that they do is called the walk and turn. They put you into position and you do nine steps forward, you turn, you do nine steps back. They’re looking for balance problems, they’re looking for problems that you’re not able to do one thing and pay attention to the next direction. The third one that they do is called the one legged stand. It’s exactly like it sounds, where they have you stand on one leg and they have you count out loud and again what they’re looking for is somebody that can