Driving – Police stopped to arrest you?

When driving a police officer cannot simply pull you over and arrest you. He or she must have probable cause to pull you over. There must be good reason to suspect you that you are driving while intoxicated or breaking other laws, such as speeding, driving without switching your lights at night or were driving in a dangerous manner. You may wish to consult an experienced lawyer to investigate the facts and to determine whether or not the officer had done the right thing or had a probable cause to pull you over and arrest you. In Malaysia, under the Criminal Procedure Code, it must be based on credible information, reasonable suspicion or that a reasonable complaint had been lodged against you. Mind you, police
have no absolute power and you can also sue the police for wrongful arrest, assault and prosecution.

Caught for Drunk Driving?

The outcome of a drunk driving case depends upon the prosecutor’s ability to prove you were driving under the influence of alcohol exceeding a certain legal limit. The proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt. The state may adduce testimony from the patrol or police officer regarding his or her observations of your behaviour. This may include slurred speech, clumsiness or confusion. Other evidence which is often used to demonstrate that you were drunk driving may come from sobriety tests, blood tests and breath tests. You need an experience lawyer to challenge each of these pieces of evidence to determine if they were lawfully obtained, properly gathered and accurate. Experienced lawyers can tell you how to
challenge the accuracy of the tests conducted by these police officers. Recent evidence shows that breathalyzers used to detect the presence and content of alcohol by law enforcement agencies has occasionally printed out different blood-alcohol readings than what was displayed on the machine’s screen. Breathalyzer and intoxilyzer test results can be inaccurate for a number of reasons, including:

  • The breath test was given by someone not properly been trained to administer the test;
  • The machine had not been properly calibrated;
  • The microprocessor of the machine was faulty or outdated;
  • Other equipment malfunction or defects in the machine.