To speak, or not to speak, that is the question.
WHEN IT COMES to drink driving, you rarely ask your client to give evidence.
Rarely but not always.
This is because your client has been drinking and even though they may honestly believe what they say, we all know that when alcohol is involved it skews or alters accurate recollection.
"The conviction rate for drink driving in Ireland
from 2020-2023 was 62.25%.
That means that 37.74% of motorists
prosecuted were acquitted.
Every one of those 37.74% were over the limit"
Let’s face it, in almost all drink driving cases the police have little difficulty in proving that:
(a) you were driving
(b) you were (scientifically) over the limit.
But cases are not won just because the police prove both these elements.
That's because there is a lot more to prove when it comes to drink driving than just whether you drank and drove.
There are other "essential proofs" that a court will require to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And these areas are the ones that you focus on.
As to giving evidence, while its rare that you would ask your client to give evidence that doesn't mean that they never do.
There are some circumstances when they might be required to.
For instance, the police might allege that you were verbally abusive while in custody, something that you might totally disagree with.
THERE ARE ALSO some occasions when somebody may be slightly over the limit (and therefore have more credibility because they were not badly impaired by alcohol) and recall very clearly something that was said or done by the police that is different to the police's version of events.
In these cases, giving evidence may be the correct course of action.
After all, if every drink driving case resulted in a conviction once the police proved that you were over the limit when you drove, then every motorist prosecuted for drink driving would be convicted.
There would be a 100% conviction rate.
But there isn't.
The conviction rate for drink driving in Ireland from 2020-2023 was 62.25%.
That means that 37.74% of motorists prosecuted for drink driving were acquitted.
Every one of those 37.74% were over the limit.
So, 37.74% of motorists were:
(a) driving
(b) scientifically over the limit
But they were all acquitted
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