Is a Police Video Always Made of My Arrest?

Is a Police Video Always Made of My Arrest?

In some DUI-DWI arrests, the arresting officer will have a police video recording of all or part of the roadside conversation, field sobriety evaluations, and chronology of the arrest process.

If any law enforcement officer had a working camera at the arrest location, his or her department likely had in place a written departmental policy that the entire arrest should be recorded in order to be used later at your trial trial. In the event a video was made at the scene, yet none can be located later, your attorney can likely use the loss of this potentially exculpatory evidence as a defense in your case. Depending on State law and decisional case law, the loss of this evidence may result in a significant strategic advantage in your case.

Combine this with your constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and the best DUI-DWI specialists can attempt to get the charges against you reduced or totally dropped.

However, like with any drunk driving defense, there are no guarantees of such a result, and your attorney must still demonstrate that the missing tape was favorable to you or that it may have shown your innocence. States that shift this burden of proof to an accused citizen who is stopped along the side of the highway are more interested in processing criminal cases than in requiring the State to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt.