Salt Lake City DUI Lawyer & Attorney : Glen Neeley : Serving Davis County, Ogden, Brigham City, Logan

The Utah police agencies used to do "administrative checkpoints" to pull people over for no reason and then check them for alcohol.  The problem is that that charges can be challenged because there are so many rules the police must follow to make them constitutional.  So the police answer this by doing Saturation Patrols.  The highlights of this technique are as follows:

• Citizens get pulled over for a claimed legal, but usually minor reason.  (i.e. burned out license plate light, failure to signal for 2-3 seconds before turning, not coming to a complete stop, or if nothing else works, tell the driver the officer's computer shows the car is not insured when it actually does).
• The police usually get several agencies involved like the Utah Highway Patrol, Salt Lake City Police Department, and the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office.
• The patrol occurs heavily around the time the bars are in full force and the patrol occurs around these bars.

774 PEOPLE PULLED OVER!  If an officer wants to pull you over, I'm sure the officer can find a reason.  What a waste of taxpayer money in an effort to effect the witch hunt.

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Recently, someone asked me if they take their case to trial, will they be punished worse that if they just plead guilty.  The simply answer is generally no.  In Utah, most Courts recognize that a person should not be punished for exercising the right to trial.  However, out of the hundreds of DUIs that I have handled, there has been one time when a judge punished the man far worse than the minimum mandatory sentencing guidelines.  This is very uncommon in most Utah courts.  In fact, I find that many judges get to know my clients in trial and their punishment is less severe than a standard sentencing.  That is why my theory and strategy is to take the case to trial even if it looks like a person has no chance of winning the case.  Take the case to trial and you never know, something may happen that will allow the jury to find you not guilty.  You may not have much to lose and the judge may find favor in you if you do.

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