DUI Lawyer in Scottsdale, AZ Assisting with Drug-Related DUIs

Capable defense to charges of impaired driving due to illicit drugs and prescription meds

Drinking to excess is not the only way to land in jail for DUI. Increasingly, Arizona law enforcement officers are making arrests for drug-related impaired driving. The drugs in question may be illegal, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, or they can be perfectly legal, doctor-prescribed medications. While users of illicit drugs know they risk jail for their behavior, patients who take anxiety medication or anti-depressants should be aware that a doctor's prescription is no defense to a DUI charge. If you are arrested for DUI of drugs in Scottsdale AZ, you want much more than a traffic offense attorney — your lawyer must have experience in DUI and drug possession defense.

For more than 10 years, Sonoran Law Group has litigated DUI and drug charges. Our experience as prosecutors and defense counsel gives us a distinct strategic advantage over ordinary DUI lawyers.

Procedural defenses to illicit drug DUI

Arizona provides law enforcement officers with enhanced training to recognize that a driver is impaired even when the standard signs, such as alcohol on the breath or a lingering aroma of marijuana, are absent. Officers can request that a certified drug-recognition expert come to the scene of your traffic stop to administer a battery of non-invasive tests. If these tests present probable cause, the officers can then perform a toxicology test. If your toxicology test is positive for an illegal drug, you're in serious trouble. That is, unless you can challenge any of the police actions.

Sonoran Law Group challenges Scottsdale DUI arrests on procedural grounds, such as:

• Unlawful traffic stop -- Police must have a valid reason to pull you over.
• Illegal search -- Police cannot make a search of a person or a car without probable cause.
• Lack of probable cause -- Police cannot request that a drug-recognition expert come to the scene without a valid reason.
• Errors in gathering, processing and preserving evidence for trial -- Failure to maintain instruments and properly train technicians can lead to false positives.

The new frontier of prescription drug intoxication

Most people have heard of cases in which a patient who is taking a particular anti-depressant actually sleep-drives in the middle of the night. While that is an extreme case, prescription drugs, especially when used in combination, can alter a person's consciousness so that it is unsafe to drive. Of course, there is a difference in sensing that someone should not be driving and being able to prove it in a court of law. Where to draw the line between a therapeutic dose, and one that is intoxicating is a question that has not been answered, and that gives the defendant a strong line of defense. As your Scottsdale DUI of drugs lawyer, we challenge the prosecution to present irrefutable evidence that your prescription drugs caused genuine impairment.

Contact our knowledgeable Scottsdale drug-related DUI defense attorney

Call Sonoran Law Group today to schedule a free initial consultation and case evaluation with an experienced DUI defense attorney. Call our Scottsdale office at or contact us online.