I guess I could call it, "DUI Week on my blog." Since I seem to be devoting a lot of time this week to writing about DUI's, it seemed incomplete if I didn't do an article about another alcohol driving offense that is not quite the same as Driving Under the Influence. Here in South Carolina we have an extremely close charge called. Driving Under an Unlawful Alcohol Concentration. Its called DAC for short.
DAC has penalties very similar to that of a DUAC. Of the cases I see here in Myrtle Beach and Conway, only a small percentage of them are DUAC and the vast majority are DUOS cases.
The elements for proving a DUAC are less then that of a DUAC. Basically the prosecution has to show that the person was driving, a motor vehicle, and the they registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. Heavy fines, jail time, high risk insurance, and so forth are just as likely with these as with the normal DUOS.
The Code of Laws for SC states certain requirements for a conviction on DAC. First, the breath test must have been administered within two hours of the driver being arrested. There must be what is called, "articulable cause" for the police stopping the driver. That word has its own legal definition. The defendant's arrest must have been lawful. That sounds silly, but that is what it says. The written testing procedures must be provided to the defendant. He/she must consent to the breath test. That means that they cannot force a person to take the test. As said earlier the results must be 0.08 or more. The administrator of the testing has to be qualified pursuant to certain qualification requirements as set forth in the Code of Laws. The same testing procedures for the typical Driving Under the Influence charge must still be followed. And lastly, the Code states that the machine was working properly.
Quite a bit of what the code dictates for a DUAC is the same as for a DUI. And I have to admit, some of these things really do sound ridiculous to be in the law. Since the code is so specific about these requirements, they are things that the defense attorney should always consider when representing someone charged with this.
A lot of the other aspects of a DUAC and a DUI are the same. Such as the right to have a blood test taken and the obligation of the police to give some assistance in that happening. The assistance doesn't in reality amount to much more than providing transportation to the nearest medical facility. If the police to not lend the assistance as required, then that would amount to the breath test results being inadmissible at trial.
There are other aspects of a DUAC and a DUI that are the same.
