DUI defendants in Birmingham, Alabama who are arrested for subsequent offenses have a certain expectation that their past offenses are going to factor into how their case plays out. Unsurprisingly, prior DUI convictions do not typically go over well with judges in Alabama and tend to lead to the defendant being convicted again. But despite all of the mitigating factors on the part of the defendant that weigh in to a DUI decision, the background of the arresting officer could also be a factor that carries equal or perhaps even greater weight. Law enforcement officers routinely give sworn testimony in DUI cases for which they made the applicable arrest and as such the strength and reputation of a particular officer’s word is one of their most powerful assets.
Law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard by society as a whole and by judges and other court officials in particular. That being the case, their testimony hold much more water than that of other witnesses in Birmingham DUI cases because they are not only under oath by the court but they also have been sworn as officer to represent and uphold the law. Any deviation from that commitment could prove to be a serious detriment to the case to which that officer is associated.
There have been DUI cases all across the country as well as in the state of Alabama in which prosecutors have been put in a position where they had no choice but to forfeit a DUI case because of a lack of credibility on the part of the arresting officer. When that happens, more often than not the attorney’s office for the state in question would be compelled to review past DUI and other cases involving that officer and it is possible that the defendants in those cases could legitimately appeal their convictions.
