NASHVILLE CRIMINAL LAWYERS Aggressively defending citizens
QUILLEN, FLANAGAN & QUILLEN arrested for DUI in Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
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probation fees and increased insurance costs. A conviction for Second Offense DUI
in Tennessee means at least 45 days in jail, loss of license and maybe the loss of your
job. Tennessee requires at least 120 days on a Third Offense DUI and a Fourth
Offense DUI is punishable by up to 6 years in prison. You need a DUI lawyer who
likes to try cases before a jury.
read about DUI sanctions including
jail,restricted licenses, vehicle
forfeiture, drug/alcohol assessment
winning brief in PDF or in Word.
SENTENCING
JUDICIAL DIVERSION
EXPUNGEMENT
PRETRIAL DIVERSION
PROBATION
flashing lights in the rear-view mirror. Pull your vehicle over safely. You
are being graded and probably videotaped. (See Form 132) Roll down
your window and turn off the ignition. Turn on your interior lights as a
courtesy to the police officer. He is vulnerable when approaching a
suspect's vehicle and you are a "suspect." The officer will ask you for
three documents: your driver’s license, registration and proof of
insurance. While you are fumbling for these documents, he will ask
irrelevant and distracting questions such as were have you been or
where are you going. He is trained to do this. (See Field Sobriety Testing
Manual, at VI-4, which is page 6 in the Acrobat Reader PDF file).
95 White Bridge Rd.
Suite 208
Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 356-1580
stopped you -- you were speeding or weaving,
etc. He will ask you if you have had anything to
drink or if he smells the slightest hint of
alcohol, he will ask you how much you have
had to drink. Everything you say will be used
against you!
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vehicle. The officer will look for whether you are unsteady on your feet or lean against the vehicle.
Often, the officer will force you to move suddenly by closing the driver’s door before you are out of
the way. You will be asked to perform three Field Sobriety Tests.
jurors will attach little importance to your "failure" after the testing protocols
are exposed through skillful cross-examination. As an aside, I know of no
anecdotal evidence of a citizen ever "passing" these tests.
asks the DUI suspect to track the path of a pen or small
flashlight with his eyes. The results of this test are not
admissible in court under Tennessee law.
stand on a line, right foot directly in front of the left foot on a line, real or
imaginary, with your arms at your side for some 45 seconds while the
officer gives you instructions and does a perfunctory demonstration.
(See testing protocol from Field Sobriety Testing Student Manual, VIII-9,
which is page 6 in the Acrobat Reader PDF file). If you lose your balance
during this 45 seconds you will be graded down. The WAT has a Simon
Says element in that the testing protocol attempts to trick you
into starting after the officer has finished explaining the test.
(See Form 132). Again, you will be graded down if you "start too soon."
The WAT requires you to take exactly nine steps down the line, do a
mincing little turn, and take exactly nine states back. You will be graded
down if you miss heel-to-toe more than three-quarters of an INCH or
raise your hands for balance more than 6 inches from your side. You will
be graded down if you step off the line or even pause.
this test, they attach no value to such evidence,
because most of them could not pass it on their best
day. Experienced criminal defense / DUI attorneys
will not let them forget this.
stand on one foot with the other leg straight out ahead, foot parallel to
and 6 inches off the grounds, while you count to 30, that is, "one-
thousand, one, one-thousand, two . . . ." You will be graded down, if
you hop, sway or raise your hands more than 6 inches from your side.
The officer will surely judge your performance as "unsatisfactory."
come up "missing" when the video would not have demonstrated obvious
intoxication. (The Nashville Metro police have recently switched to microwave
transmission to a central location where it is dumped onto CD for you and your DUI
lawyer to view in MPEG movie file format. If you have a large hard drive it can be
saved to your computer for still-frame capture and color hard copy printout.)
driving under the influence. Do not argue with him. At this point you are under
arrest. You are going to jail. You have nothing to gain by talking. DON’T!
the right to refuse to take a test to measure blood alcohol content (BAC)
but that you will lose your license for a year (if you are a first-time offender)
if you do refuse. Generally, I advise clients to take the test if they think
they might pass. A refusal will be used against you at trial. If the officer
suspects you have smoked marijuana or ingested other drugs, you will be
taken to Meharry Hospital to have blood drawn. The blood is sent to the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) lab for analysis with a
Hewlett-Packard Gas Chromatograph which the manufacturer claims has
only a 5% margin of error.
breath alcohol test. Nashville Police use the
Intoxilyzer 1400 manufactured by the CMI
Corporation of Owensboro, Kentucky.
Whatever margin of error CMI claims, CMI is
unwilling to warrant that the Intoxilyzer is
suitable for measuring blood alcohol content. I
have subpoena’d this warranty and
successfully used it at trial to impeach BAC
results. (See page 2 of Warranty whereby CMI
states that it is unwilling to warrant that
the machine is FIT FOR ANY PURPOSE, in
all caps.) People on a jury want the
manufacturer to stand behind a warranty when
they buy a washing machine and they do not
like it when a DA tries to sell them breath test
results that CMI won’t back up. Whatever the
BAC, you are going downtown to be booked.
You will be given a telephone call. Call a family
member to coordinate making bond. Call me
the next day. - Kenneth Quillen
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PRACTICE AREAS
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TN DUI LAWS
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SEX OFFENSES
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(a) It is unlawful for any person to drive or to be in physical control of any automobile or other motor
driven vehicle on any of the public roads and highways of the state, or on any streets or alleys, or while
on the premises of any shopping center, trailer park or any apartment house complex, or any other
premises which is generally frequented by the public at large, while:
(1) Under the influence of any intoxicant, marijuana, narcotic drug, or drug producing stimulating
effects on the central nervous system; or
(2) The alcohol concentration in such person's blood or breath is eight-hundredths of one
percent (.08%) or more.
(b) For the purpose of this section, "drug producing stimulating effects on the central nervous system"
includes the salts of barbituric acid, also known as malonyl urea, or any compound, derivatives, or
mixtures thereof that may be used for producing hypnotic or somnifacient effects, and includes
amphetamine, desoxyephedrine or compounds or mixtures thereof, including all derivatives of
phenolethylamine or any of the salts thereof, except preparations intended for use in the nose and unfit
for internal use.