DWI Arrest – Do I Have To Take The Breath Test in Alaska?
Reader’s Question:
I haven’t been arrested for DWI in Alaska because even though I drive after having some alcohol, I take a lot of care in driving. But in case I get stopped, do I have to take a breath test or any other chemical test or doing so will be a mistake?
Lane
Anchorage, AK
The answer to both your questions would be “yes” and “no,” depending on the circumstances. Unless there is an accident, the police officer could not force you to submit to a breath, blood or urine test. But the State of Alaska has an “implied consent law” which states that as a condition of being given the privilege to drive in the State or upon obtaining your driver’s license, you are required to take a chemical test if there is a reasonable belief that you are violating the alcohols laws.
Thus, if you refuse to take any chemical test if you get arrested for DWI in Alaska, you will generally lose your driving privileges for one year. The prosecutor would have to prove the DWI case without the use of any chemical evidence. This obviously would be an advantage for you as a defendant. But you would be faced with the probable loss of your driving privileges for one year.
Alaska DUI Drivers License Suspension?
Reader’s Question:
I was surprised that the police officer immediately confiscated my driver’s license after I was arrested for DUI in Alaska. Isn’t that they have to prove that I was guilty first before they punish me, so how can they do that if I was presumed to be innocent?
Maiya
Anchorage, AK
Unfortunately, that should always be the case in a DUI arrest in Anchorage, Alaska. The Department of Motor Vehicles is actually required by law to immediately suspend the driver’s license of anyone arrested for DUI who has a .08% blood alcohol content, takes a blood or urine test that will be analyzed later or refuses to take any test. The driver’s license is taken on the spot and the DUI suspension is legally effective the moment the police officer signs the notice and hands it to you.
If we view it in another way, the police officer in a drunk driving case is constable, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner and anyone has absolutely no rights. As a matter of fact, if you took a blood or urine test, they don’t even wait for the results (which will come back from the lab days later). Not only they presume you guilty, they also presume that the evidence will eventually show it.