Urine Test DUI Cases
In certain DUI cases, the arresting officer will request a urine sample, usually when the driver blow in the breath test machine results in a reading under the legal limit of 0.08. The urine test results are generally considered to be far less accurate than blood test in measuring drugs in the system. Additionally, urine tests are not an accurate way of measuring alcohol in the system.
Nevertheless, law enforcement agencies use urine test instead of blood test because they are generally easier to obtain and far less expensive. If your DUI case involves a urine test you need an experienced DUI attorney to fight those results if the sample tests positive for any types of drugs. Contact an experienced DUI urine test attorney at the Law Offices of Don Pumphrey, Jr. Our attorneys represent men and women in DUI urine test cases throughout Tallahassee in Leon County, and the surrounding areas throughout Florida's Second Judicial Circuit including Quincy in Gadsden County, Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Monticello in Jefferson County or Bristol in Liberty County.
Florida's Method of DUI Urine Test Analysis for Drugs
Law enforcement agencies in North Florida tend to make a lot of mistakes in administering the urine test. At a minimum, proper urine testing requires the subject be allowed to completely empty the bladder, and then wait an additional 20 minutes before submitting the sample to be analyzed. Other protocols must be followed.
Because urine tests involve looking at concentrations in water instead of blood, the result can be highly inflated. The concentration of alcohol in the urine sample is approximately 1.33 times the concentration of alcohol in the blood sample. Furthermore, the presence of drugs in the urine does little to provide information on when the drugs were consumed. Often, the results of the urine test are not relevant unless they can show, to a high degree of certainty, the presence of drugs in the urine sample proves the driver was under the influence of those drugs at the time of driving.
Furthermore, urine testing does not actually measure the presence of drugs, but only certain "metabolites" that would be expected to be present if the subject had injected drugs at some point prior to testing. Metabolites are inactive trace chemicals left over after the drug is broken down in the system.
Finding an Experienced Tallahassee DUI Urine Test Attorney
If your Florida Panhandle DUI charge involves the testing of a urine sample, contact a lawyer experienced in fighting to exclude any mention of the urine test at trial. Even if the urine test is not totally excluded during pre-trial motions, your DUI attorney may be able to effectively challenge the results of the urine test at trial. Our attorneys understand the importance of contesting this scientific evidence, which leads to the best pre-trial negotiations. Call today to speak directly with a criminal defense lawyer about a DUI urine test case throughout Tallahassee in Leon County, and the surrounding areas throughout Florida's Second Judicial Circuit, including Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Quincy in Gadsden County, Bristol in Liberty County or Monticello in Jefferson County.