Many Arizona residents may mistakenly believe that DUI charges cannot be defended against or that it is extremely difficult to do so. This is simply not the case. With the help of an experienced criminal defense attorney, DUI charges can be successfully defended against.

Take the recent case of a woman who was arrested on DUI charges, but who has fought those charges and maintained her innocence. The charges stem from an incident that took place in 2006 when she was pulled over because she apparently had a missing taillight cover.

However, the arresting police officer says that he smelled alcohol on her breath. He wanted her to take a breathalyzer test, but she refused. He then arrested her. She says he then used excessive force and ended up breaking her ribs during the arrest.

Though the DUI charges were eventually dropped against this woman, she decided to bring a lawsuit against the local police in order to proclaim her innocence. By doing so, she is hoping to set a precedent that unlawful DUI arrests are not acceptable and to send the message to police officers that they may not use excessive force during an arrest.

It looks likely that the city is seriously considering settling the case in order to avoid a jury trial, which could likely result in a windfall to this accused woman if a jury were to believe her side of the story.

Did this woman suffer a false arrest? It is certainly possible. In fact, it does happen quite often in Arizona that police officers are not justified in the arrest of an accused individual. This is the first place to start in the defense of anyone who has been charged with DUI in Arizona.

Source: The St. Petersburg Times, "Largo considers settling suit over DUI arrest, use of force," Will Hobson, Nov. 2, 2011