As we discussed in the last post, not incriminating yourself in any way for a Naperville DUI is a very powerful courtroom defense. When it comes to answering questions other than basic questions like "what's your name" or "what's your address," I would argue that you have a constitutional right on virtually every other question the Naperville Police might ask you to answer, "I'd rather not say?"
If you really wanted to get fancy with this type of Naperville DUI defense, you could answer, "Pursant to rights guaranteed under the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, I respectfully refuse to answer that question."
OK, sure that's a mouthful. And if you've been drinking, the more you say will increase your chances of slurring your words. Even if you don't slur them, it would increase the chance that the police will exaggerate and say you slurred your words.
But by specifically invoking the 5th amendment in answer to virtually all police questions, even before you've been formally arrested you are potentially creating a virtual minefield for the prosecution in the criminal aspect of your Naperville DUI case.
Unfortunately, with respect to the statutory summary suspension aspect of the DUI case, taking the 5th probably won't be as much help. However, depending on the prosecutor's experience and expertise, a DUI resourceful DUI defense lawyer could use the fact that you consistently took the 5th to your advantage.
If you have more questions about taking the 5th when talking to the police, feel free to post a comment or call Naperville DUI Defense Attorney, Brent Christensen at 630-665-5965.
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