One of the most common questions we get from DC and Virginia DUI callers is “do I have to talk to the police when they pull me over?”  The answer to that question is nuanced, but generally speaking you don't have to say anything to anyone.

When stopping a driver on suspicion of DUI, law enforcement is trained to ask you all sorts of questions to get you to incriminate yourself.  Common questions include:

• Do you know why I pulled you over?
• Where are you coming from?
• Have you had anything to drink tonight?

Drivers are often nervous when answering these questions.  Even honest and innocent answers can lead to probable cause for an officer to arrest you.  An experienced attorney can defend your rights even if you answered these questions and the officer chose to arrest you anyway.  For example, statements after arrest could be thrown out if you weren't read your rights.

BUT

If you call the police in advance to tell them you're drunk driving, that's going to make things a little harder to deal with. 

Reported, a driver did exactly this.  Listen to the recording and hear for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ZVykpmesY&t=81s

As we're fond of saying, this is not a good look.  Maybe it's even worse of a look than peeing on a tree.

 If you're facing a DUI charge in Washington, DC and you snitched on yourself, you're going to need a lawyer who will make extra efforts to defend your rights.  

And yes, we have experience in cases where client's confess.  Confession is not the end of the case.  Please try not to, but even if you did give us a call and we'll talk with you about very best defenses we know of to deal with self confessions.

Our DC Office line is:  202-489-0720.