Implied Consent

Arizona Implied Consent Laws - Phoenix DUI Defense

Just by carrying an Arizona driver's license, state law considers you to have given your consent to a test of your blood, breath or urine for measuring your blood alcohol content if you are stopped on suspicion of drunk driving. If you refuse consent to a BAC test when stopped or arrested, you face the possibility of a suspension of your driver's license for violation of the Arizona implied consent laws. If you have refused a blood, urine or breath test, contact the AV-rated* Weingart Law Firm in Tempe for reliable advice about avoiding a license suspension based on an implied consent violation.

Unlike DUI, which is a crime under Arizona law, refusing to provide a blood or breath test is not a criminal offense, and you cannot be jailed for an implied consent violation. But you can and will have your driver's license suspended unless you're able to get the implied consent violation dismissed at an MVD administrative hearing. As a practical matter, a long suspension can be a more severe punishment than the fines, sanctions, or short jail sentence that a DUI criminal conviction might carry.

It's essential to remember that the implied consent law only requires you to provide a sample of your blood, breath, or urine for testing. It does not require you to submit to field sobriety tests, tell the officer how much you had to drink, or engage in any other conversation. You do not need to provide a sample until you've been placed under arrest. If you request an attorney's advice, you don't need to provide a sample until you've had the chance to talk to a lawyer.

If you refuse to provide the sample even after arrest and a discussion with an attorney, the police officer can legally obtain a search warrant by telephone and obtain the sample despite your objection. This evidence can be used against you as evidence of DUI or extreme DUI in the criminal case--unless defense counsel can keep it out of the record-- and you might be subject to suspension of your license for an implied consent violation anyway.

For a first offender DUI defendant, the basic automatic suspension is 90 days, with a temporary license available for the first 15 days after the arrest, and the opportunity to get a restricted license upon certain conditions. Meanwhile, the basic suspension under the implied consent law is one year, with the first 90 days under a strict suspension. For the rest of the year, you might be allowed to drive with an ignition interlock device that tests your breath every time you try to start the car.

At the Weingart Law Firm in Tempe, we can represent you on both the criminal DUI charge and the administrative implied consent violation. Both are essential to protecting your driver's license if you refused a blood or breath test. The goal in the DUI case is to defeat the criminal charge, while the objective before the MVD is to dismiss the suspension of your license. We have provided effective representation in both DUI defense and MVD implied consent proceedings for 20 years. For a free consultation about your problem under the implied consent law, contact one of our Arizona driver's license attorneys without delay.

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