| Show The price is high for a DUI I Shar Brannam Campus Reporter Every year in Utah the punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol gets tougher The Utah State Legislature has increased penalties for this offense every year The focus of the Legislature started with a heavy-duty heavy DUI campaign in 1983 New laws and additional sanctions are added yearly According to longtime DUI DUJ defense attorney Kelly Cardon It gets tougher and tougher On a time first-time DUI conviction an individual can usually expect to serve two to four days in jail and pay fines ranging from 1300 to SI S 1 OO First and second DUI convictions are usually Class B misdemeanors unless other factors factors' such as injuries to other drivers or underage drinking and driving are involved Such circumstances usually increase the charges and penalties If a person receives three DUI convictions within three years the person is considered to be habitual and the county attorney will most likely file the DUI as asa asa asa a felony Its obviously much more harsh because the judge looks at it as somebody not getting the message or alcohol is a abig abig abig big problem or they're not being responsible about their drinking Cardon said By law a person convicted of a DUI with witha a blood alcohol level of 16 or higher must now have an ignition interlock device installed in in their vehicle The interlock requires the driver to blow into the device and they must have less than the legal limit of alcohol in their system for the car carto carto carto to even start Interlock devices are expensive and cumbersome In the past few years new laws have been made in Utah that now make it DUI Continued on page 2 The price to pay for DUI Continued from page 1 a crime to drive under the influence of almost any drug prescription or street variety When this law was first passed it did not carry the same weight in the courtroom as an alcohol- alcohol related DUI Recent laws enacted in Utah read that a driver must merely have a metabolite of a controlled substance in their blood to tobe tobe tobe be guilty of a crime What this means to the person driving with a prescription drug in their system is a conviction that has the same ramifications as someone driving drunk Cardon says most of the people pulled over in inthis inthis this situation will tell the officer that they dont don't drink alcohol but will volunteer the information that they do take a prescription drug Because of that law they can now come over into the DUI area and say Yeah but had it in you your system Cardon said Blood tests are becoming increasingly common for a resolution to a DUI charge Cardon recommends blood tests to most of his clients to prove their non- non impairment The list of prescription drugs that carry a driving prohibition is 11 pages long It H includes medications such as seizure anti-seizure drugs If its it's such a good idea why dont don't the other states do doit doit doit it said Cardon of Utah's law regarding metabolites in the system Metabolites only show traces of a dr drUg g gin in the system not recent use According to Cardon these new laws set the standard for all DUI laws and prosecutors in Utah are using them to convict more and more more people These people are really exposed I think its it's an unconstitutional law Cardon said The first proc procedure dure in getting tested to see if a person is driving under the influence is the Standard Field Sobriety Test invented in North Carolina in 1977 1477 Most of the exercises such as standing on one foot are hard for a normal sober person to do A person who is overweight or over 50 is going to have a more difficult time passing the test than a slender person in their Even if an individual performs well on a field sobriety test that person will still be given a portable preliminary breathalyzer In Utah if the results of the breathalyzer are 08 the results are the same DUI The preliminary breathalyzer results are not absolute since those results are not admissible in a court of law Different factors can affect the outcome of the test The variables can include cologne mouthwash or any other based alcohol-based substance that once airborne can alter test results If a defense in court is needed for a DUI charge picking a good attorney is essential Choosing an attorney vho has experience in this particular area of the law can mean the difference between jail and freedom If someone has a high blood alcohol level then weve we've got to look for holes in the case Cardon said The Utah Highway Patrol has recently formed a DUI squad If an intoxicated driver gets pulled over bythe bythe by bythe the who specifically looks for drunk drivers then that individual is more likely to logo go to jail make a stop for fora a tail taillight light and they're more likely to see impairment in their head Cardon said According to Cardon getting pulled over by an agency other than the is less likely to end up in a DUI not trying to 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