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A Washington State DUI arrest almost always involves alcohol. Although the legal consequences of a DUI in Seattle and elsewhere in Washington State are fully discussed elsewhere on our blog and within our firm website, recent research has revealed a medical risk that may occur when “time release” medicine is taken and alcohol is present …

Most people refer to a violation of the Washington State DUI law as “drunk driving.” Certainly, as any Seattle DUI lawyer will tell you, a person who is drunk and then drives is in violation of the law. However, the law doesn’t actually have the words “drunk driving” anywhere in it. Washington State’s …

There is a nationwide push to detect and prosecute DUI cases where the driver is impaired by drugs, not alcohol. In King County and elsewhere in Washington State, DUI defense attorneys are seeing more and more drug DUI arrests that have resulted from examinations of drivers by “DRE” trained officers. “DRE” is short for Drug Recognition [...]

Whereas it is well known that driving while impaired by alcohol is against the law, the law also criminalizes driving while under the influence of drugs. DUI/drugs can be accomplished with legal, prescribed drugs that impair the ability to drive. DUI defense attorneys are seeing more and more cases of “sleepdriving,” where the driver took Ambien [...]

The latest revision to the lawyer’s manual “Defending DUis In Washington” is to be released in February 2009. The revision contains textbook-like treatment of the law and science of breath testing and also examines the procedure known as Drug Recognition used by police when they suspect DUI but alcohol is not involved. A new authoritative chapter, Challenging Blood Tests, was authored by FBD partner Francisco Duarte.

I. DRE BACKGROUND: Separate from the “per se” prong, RCW 46.61.502 also criminalizes driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug, or …