Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Consent for DUI Testing Gained by Officer’s Warning of the Law does not Constitute Voluntary Consent…unless Good Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule Applies. This article provides a case over overview and discussion of legal principles that applied. Article features include: Impact of ruling on Arizona DUI suspects; Good Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule; Arizona Court decisions on what constitutes voluntary consent to search; and answers to the question of whether or not a suspect should consent to DUI testing in Arizona; and Common defenses for DUI charges in Arizona.

Questions before the Court The Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure afford parties the right to request a change of judge before trial. But these rights are not without limitations. In a recent case, an Arizona appellate court reviewed a defendant’s conviction for misconduct involving weapons. The appeal centered around two arguments, one being the defendant’s…

Imagine the lethal game of “Russian Roulette”, but with different rules of chance. Let’s say the chambers in a revolver with 6 rounds are all loaded with bullets, with the exception of only one chamber. As if the risks weren’t enough in the traditional game. They just increased drastically. Now it means there is an…

If you are arrested for a DUI, you have a right to request an attorney’s assistance right away. But how much time are you given to find an attorney before you are given a Breathalyzer? In a recent Arizona Court of Appeals case, the defendant was convicted of aggravated DUI, for driving while impaired with…

In a recent case ruling the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld a woman’s conviction for possession for sale of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The central issue in the Appeal was whether or not a K-9 drug search of her vehicle was within the scope of a voluntary consent to search she agreed upon. Case Facts…

In a recent Arizona Supreme Court drug case, a man convicted of 11 drug-related crimes was sentenced to concurrent, consecutive presumptive terms of imprisonment. The defendant appealed, challenging five convictions related to violations of A.R.S. § 13-3417(A) to facilitate or conspire to commit felony drug crimes. In this article we provide an overview of the…

Overview of AZ HB 2489: Combatting Heroin Overdoses A bill we have been following closely, AZ HB 2489 was passed on April 10, 2015. The expected effective date is July 3, 2015. Arizona now joins 26 other US states that have passed similar legislation. First responder’s administration of opiate reversal injections, have been credited with…

If you are placed on probation for a drug crime in Arizona, you have a reduced expectation of privacy than you had before. This means that, depending on the probation conditions, the privacy protections you thought you had under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution related to search and seizure may not apply.…

The Arizona Supreme Court provided a unanimous decision in a recent Marijuana DUI ruling. The court took a closer look at how the AMMA impacts prosecution. The Supreme Court ruled that Medical Marijuana card holders are not immune from prosecution under the state’s DUI law, which prohibits drivers from having in their blood marijuana or…

Your Guide to understanding the DUI blood test with medical treatment warrant exception. A DUI blood test taken by Police for investigating impairment is considered a search and seizure, protected by our 4th Amendment rights. This means that to obtain DUI blood or chemical evidence police would need either consent; or a warrant to order…