When to Hire a Defense Expert in a DUI Case
There are many different options and strategies in defending a DUI depending on the facts of the case, the time willing to be put in, and the resources of the law firm or client. One of the most important decisions to make in defending a DUI is whether to retain an expert for the purposes of negotiation or litigation during trial.
Generally in my practice there are several things I consider in deciding whether to retain an expert.
Is the client on board: This is important for a couple of reasons. Although strategizing, and defending a DUI is the job of the Attorney. There needs to be some kind of mutual understanding between the Attorney and the Client of what the defense is going to be. If it involves a legal argument, or credibility of a witness, or challenging the Prosecutors scientific evidence its a good idea to have the client understand the defense, and what will be argued. The other reason its important is the retention of an expert is generally not covered in the Attorney Client fee agreement. Meaning any expert fees need to be paid by the client. Therefore if a client doesn't have the resources to hire an expert that will cost $10,000 then retaining one would be a moot point.
Purpose of the expert: Often times I see Defense Attorneys retain an expert in a DUI case for no particular reason other than to make some general assumptions regarding an issue in the case. This tends to be not as effective, and a case where the Expert is specifically challenging a certain piece of evidence, or protocol the Prosecution is using. For example if would be ineffective to have an Expert come in and testify about certain procedures used during testing of the clients breath or blood test if there is no correlation between the facts of the present case, and the testimony the expert is giving.
Can testimony be elicited through the Prosecutions expert: Sometimes in rare cases the purpose of retaining a defense expert can be moot, if the Prosecutions expert can be used to elicit that same testimony. This is often a difficult situation to do because the Prosecutions expert might be unwilling or be difficult during the cross examination. But if the client has limited resources, and the testimony sought is generally accepted, it may be a better use of funds if an expert was not retained, and those funds were used for something else.
Obviously deciding whether to retain a Defense Expert in a DUI case varies depending on the facts of the case, and whether it would actually be helpful. Just having an expert for the sole purpose of just saying you have one will not look favorably in front of a jury and cause the Defense to lose credibility with not only the Jury, but the Judge, and Prosecution.
If you're charged with a Seattle DUI, dont wait to hire a Seattle DUI Lawyer. Its of the utmost importance that your constitutional rights are protected by a Seattle DUI Lawyer immediately. Don't wait!
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