Alabama DUI Legislation 2014, Part 2

Posted on by DUI Attorney

In my last post we discussed how Senate Bill 117 seeks to change the definition of “under the influence” for Alabama’s DUI law.  Today I want to discuss another change it would make to DUI law in Alabama.  Specifically, it would consolidate four of the five ways a person can be charged with DUI under the law into one charge. The five ways a person can be charged with DUI under Alabama’s present law are as follows:  (1) having a BAC of .08 or higher, (2) being under the influence of alcohol, (3) being under the influence of a controlled substance, (4) being under the combined influence of a controlled substance and alcohol, or (5) being under the influence of any substance.  The new bill would collapse 2 through 5 into a single charge of being under the influence of any substance.  This is unfortunate because it would give a person charged with DUI under the new law even less notice of what he or she must defend against in court.  This bill would make another significant change to Alabama’s DUI law.  I will discuss that change in my next post.

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