Rights During a Columbia DUI Stop

When stopped by law enforcement, a person is entitled to certain rights. These rights include choosing to remain silent until speaking with an attorney, the right to a trial, and the right to an attorney if you cannot afford one. However, not everyone is fully informed about their rights when being stopped, detained, or arrested. Speak with aprofessional DUI attorney to learn more about rights during a Columbia DUI stop. Such knowledge could benefit you if charged with a DUI offense.

Common Rights

A person has the right to remain silent and not to incriminate themselves. If they are driving a car and do not have any additional penalties, they should turn over their driver’s license, proof of insurance, and registration. They do not have to answer any investigative questions. They have a right against illegal searches and seizures, so they do not have to consent to a search.

They also have a right to refuse to do any field sobriety tests and the breath test, but there are consequences for refusing the breath test such as six-month suspension of their driver’s license. A person has 30 days from the date of the Notice of Suspension to file for a Contested Case hearing an administrative hearing. Speak with a DUI attorney to learn more about a person’s rights during a Columbia DUI stop.

Immediately Following a DUI Arrest

Once someone is arrested, immediately upon being arrested the officer must inform them of their charge. They must announce to the person being arrested that they are under arrest. At that point when a person is being detained and put in handcuffs, they go from being detained to being arrested. They must be informed of the charge. They are taken to the jail and during that process of being booked, they have the right to have a bond hearing within 24 hours of their arrest.

Then, they have the right to a reasonable bail. Under South Carolina Constitution, unless there is evidence that satisfies the judge that a person is either an unreasonable danger to the community or that a bond would not reasonably assure their appearance to court, they are a flight risk. A personal recognizance or PR bond should be given.

Consenting to a Search

The officers, once someone is under arrest, rarely ask for permission to search, because they are allowed at the time of arrest to conduct an inventory search. They are able to search the car during this inventory search to make sure things are logged and not stolen when the car is being impounded and they call the tow truck.

Implied Consent

A person does not have a constitutional right to drive. It is a privilege that state-maintained roads and to drive in a South Carolina. It is considered a privilege. If someone drives on the roads of South Carolina, they have, under the South Carolina Code, impliedly consented to take field sobriety tests. They have impliedly consented to take a breath test. If they refuse that breath test, there are consequences.

If someone is arrested for DUI and offered a breath test, they must be read their implied consent rights during a Columbia DUI stop. After being read their implied consent rights notified that they are being video-recorded, having their mouth checked for a foreign object, and waiting the 20-minute time period before they can be offered the test, if someone refuses that test, their license will be suspended for six months.

However, someone has 30 days from that day to challenge that suspension by filing for a contested case hearing at the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings to challenge that suspension.

Breath Test

When someone is offered a breath test, they must be read their implied consent rights during a Columbia DUI stop. They have the choice to either take the DataMaster or the breath test. South Carolina does not have breathalyzers; it has the DataMaster DMT. They have the choice to take the test or not. If they refuse, there are consequences.