Board Certified DUI Defense
DUI Arrest Process in Utah
Since 1998Board CertifiedNCDD Faculty
The Traffic Stop and Initial Contact
Every DUI case in Utah begins with an encounter between a driver and law enforcement. In most cases, that encounter is a traffic stop, though it can also be a sobriety checkpoint, a welfare check, or an accident investigation. The legality of this initial contact determines whether everything that follows can be used as evidence, which is why the traffic stop is often the first and most important point of defense analysis.
To initiate a traffic stop, an officer must have reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation or criminal activity has occurred. Common justifications include lane weaving, crossing the center line, driving significantly over or under the speed limit, running a red light, or equipment violations such as a broken taillight. The officer's stated reason for the stop will be documented in the police report and, in many cases, captured on dashcam or body camera footage.
What matters for defense purposes is whether the stated reason holds up to scrutiny. An officer who writes in the report that the driver was weaving within the lane may not have sufficient reasonable suspicion if the movement was minor and brief. An officer who stops a vehicle for an equipment violation but then proceeds directly to a DUI investigation may be using the equipment issue as a pretext. Glen Neeley, who has been defending DUI cases in Utah since 1998, reviews dashcam footage, body camera recordings, and police reports in every case to evaluate whether the stop meets the constitutional standard. If it does not, a motion to suppress can remove all subsequent evidence from the case.
During the initial contact, the officer will observe the driver for signs of impairment: odor of alcohol, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, difficulty producing documents, and general demeanor. These observations become part of the probable cause analysis that the officer uses to justify further investigation. Anything you say during this encounter, including whether you admit to having consumed alcohol, becomes part of the record and can be used against you. You are not required to answer questions about whether you have been drinking.
Field Sobriety Testing and the Preliminary Breath Test
If the officer suspects impairment based on initial observations, the next step is typically a request to perform standardized field sobriety tests. These are the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, the Walk and Turn test, and the One Leg Stand test, all developed through NHTSA-funded research. The officer may also request a preliminary breath test using a portable screening device. The PBT result is not admissible at trial in Utah but is used to help establish probable cause for arrest.
Field sobriety tests are voluntary in Utah. You are not legally required to perform them, and declining does not carry the same consequences as refusing an evidential chemical test after arrest. However, most people do not know this during the encounter, and officers rarely explain that the tests are optional. The results of these tests, including the officer's subjective interpretation of your performance, become central evidence in the DUI case. Our page on field sobriety tests in Utah explains each test in detail, including the documented error rates and the specific ways our firm challenges this evidence.
The officer uses the totality of the observations, the field sobriety test results, and any preliminary breath test result to make a probable cause determination. If the officer concludes that probable cause for impaired driving exists, you will be placed under arrest. The probable cause standard requires more than a hunch but less than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard used at trial. Whether the officer's observations actually support probable cause is a legal question that the defense can challenge through pretrial motions.
One critical point about field sobriety tests during a Utah DUI stop: the NHTSA standardized tests were validated for detecting impairment at .08 BAC, not Utah's .05 standard. This means officers are relying on tests designed for a higher impairment threshold to justify arrests at a lower one. Glen Neeley is SFST-certified through NHTSA-trained instructors, holding the same certification that law enforcement officers receive. That training allows him to evaluate every aspect of the field sobriety test administration against the exact standards the officer was trained to follow. His board certification in DUI defense through the National College for DUI Defense and his role on the NCDD faculty reinforce the credibility of those challenges in court.
Arrest, Chemical Testing, and Implied Consent
Once arrested, you will be transported to the station or a designated testing facility. At this point, the officer will request that you submit to an evidential chemical test. In Utah, this is typically a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 9000 or a blood draw performed by a qualified phlebotomist. This is the test that produces the BAC result used as evidence at trial, distinct from the preliminary breath screening conducted at the roadside.
Utah's implied consent law carries significant consequences for refusal. By operating a vehicle on Utah roads, you have impliedly consented to chemical testing when an officer has probable cause to believe you are driving under the influence. Refusing the evidential test triggers an automatic 18-month license suspension, longer than the 120-day suspension for a first-offense DUI conviction. The refusal can also be used as evidence against you at trial, with the prosecution arguing that you refused because you knew the result would show impairment.
Before administering the breath test, the officer must observe you for a deprivation period to ensure that nothing in your mouth, such as residual alcohol from recent drinking, belching, or vomiting, contaminates the sample. The officer must also follow specific operational procedures for the Intoxilyzer 9000. Failures in the observation period or instrument operation create potential grounds for challenging the test result. For a detailed analysis of how breath and blood testing works, and where errors occur, see our page on breathalyzer and chemical tests.
If a blood draw is requested instead of a breath test, the officer must arrange for a qualified phlebotomist to perform the draw using an approved collection kit with the proper preservative and anticoagulant. The blood sample must be stored under refrigeration and analyzed within a reasonable timeframe. Any break in the chain of custody, from the moment the blood is drawn through delivery to the lab and analysis, creates potential grounds for challenging the result. Glen examines collection records, storage logs, and lab documentation in every blood test case, looking for procedural failures that affect the reliability of the BAC result. Because Glen owns an Intoxilyzer 5000EN and has completed the Borkenstein Course on alcohol and highway safety at Indiana University, he understands both breath and blood testing science at a technical level that allows him to identify errors other attorneys miss.
Booking, Release, and Critical Deadlines
After the chemical test, you are booked at the station. Booking involves fingerprinting, photographs, and processing of paperwork. You will receive a citation that serves as the formal criminal charge and a notice from the arresting officer regarding your driver's license. Release may occur shortly after booking or after a mandatory hold period, depending on your BAC level and the circumstances of the arrest.
The documents you receive at booking contain critical deadlines that begin running immediately. The most time-sensitive is the window to request a hearing with the Driver License Division to contest the administrative suspension of your license. Missing this deadline results in automatic suspension with no opportunity for a hearing. Glen Neeley files this hearing request as one of the first actions in every new DUI case. Our page on the 10-day rule and ALR hearing explains this deadline and the hearing process in detail.
The criminal case and the administrative license case run on separate tracks with separate deadlines, separate decision-makers, and separate standards of proof. Winning on one track does not automatically produce a favorable result on the other. A person can have their criminal case dismissed but still lose their license through the DLD process, or vice versa. Both tracks require attention from the start, which is why contacting a DUI defense attorney as soon as possible after arrest is the single most important step you can take. Glen Neeley, board-certified in DUI defense by the National College for DUI Defense and an NCDD faculty member, handles both tracks in every case. He identifies and preserves time-sensitive evidence such as dashcam footage, body camera recordings, and surveillance video from the stop location that might otherwise be overwritten or lost. Early involvement allows him to secure this evidence before it disappears and to file the DLD hearing request well within the statutory deadline. For information about penalties you may be facing, see our page on DUI penalties in Utah. If this is your first DUI arrest, our page on first-time DUI in Utah covers what to expect. For details about the BAC thresholds that determine the severity of your charge, see our page on BAC limits in Utah.
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