What to do when stopped for DWI in New Hampshire

First thing to remember is to always be courteous.  While courtesy alone will not get you out of DWI arrest, it can make a difference if you are belligerent.  Combative and defensive people will almost always be portrayed as drunk in a police report while courteous & polite people will be portrayed in a better light.  This can make a difference if it is a close test and your attorney is trying to negotiate the case with the prosecutor.

If the officer asks you questions about whether or not you’ve been drinking that evening, you are under no obligation to answer his questions.  You should give the officer your driver’s license, registration and insurance card.  Do not answer any questions about drinking or where you’ve been coming from because the officer is only going to use that against you later as part of his probable cause determination.  Tell the officer you are invoking your right to remain silent and keep your mouth shut.  The more you talk, the more ammunition the prosecutor will have to use against you in trial.

NEVER agree to perform field sobriety tests.  These tests include Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (the eye test), the Walk & Turn and the One Leg Stand.  If the officer asks you to perform those tests, he has in all likelihood, made a determination that you are impaired and will arrest you anyway.  Performing these tests can only hurt you in the long run.  Many people perform poorly on these tests for a multitude of reasons with impairment by alcohol being only one of the reasons.  You can bet the prosecutor is going to argue that your poor performance on the field sobriety tests wasn’t the result of nervousness or poor balance but rather, impairment by alcohol.  Just say NO!

Don’t make the police officer’s job easier by performing field sobriety tests and answering questions about drinking.  Let him make an arrest decision with as little information as possible.  The less information the officer has to make an arrest decision on, the more likely it is that your attorney can successfully fight the DWI charge.

Do not resist being placed under arrest.  While you may disagree with the officer’s decision to arrest you, there is no reason to become combative and try to argue your way out of a DWI charge.  More often than not, you end up arguing yourself into additional charges.

In New Hampshire, a driver is under a duty to submit to a chemical test.  Refusing to submit to a test will result in harsher penalties.  However, refusing to submit to a test may make it easier to defend the criminal case because you’ve deprived the state of the best evidence against you… the chemical test result.  Again, I must reiterate that you are under a duty to submit to a chemical test (breath, blood or urine), however, if you choose to refuse, the police can’t force to you to give a sample.  No BAC = a tougher case to prosecute.