If you were one of the over 2000 people arrested for driving under the influence by the Arizona DUI taskforce, you might have an advantage over those who were arrested by a normal patrol. During task force saturation patrols, officers often work outside of their normal jurisdictions. For example, a Scottsdale DUI officer might patrol in Mesa, or a Phoenix DUI officer might patrol in Tempe or Gilbert. If you arrested, for example, but a Phoenix police officer for DUI, but you were in Mesa at the time, your case (assuming it is a misdemeanor) would be cited to the Mesa Municipal Court. Because Mesa has jurisdiction over you, if you challenge the case, the Phoenix officer who arrested you for DUI would then have to testify in Mesa. This puts the officer out of his element. It also creates a situation where the prosecutors and cops are unfamiliar with eachother. Normally, the Mesa City Prosecutors are used to having Mesa PD officers testify in their DUI cases.

Look at your Traffic Citation and Complaint (usually a white copy). This is the one that lists the charges against you and has your court date (arraignment) at the bottom.  At the top of the page you will see the agency of arrest. For example, Phoenix Police Department. Look next the the court date on the bottom. If the Court does not match the police department that issued the citation, your case is already in a better position than it otherwise would have been.

Another advantage to having been arrested by the DUI task force as opposed to a regular Arizona DUI patrol is that since the officers are so busy pulling people over, their reports are often not as detailed as normal. They also, from time to time, mix the facts of your DUI arrest up with somebody else’s arrest. I have even seen cases where they are not consistent with a name throughout the report. This opens up an obvious area for attacking the states case.

Another advantage to being arrested by the Arizona DUI taskforce is that the chemical evidence may be scattered.  For instance, if you are arrested by the Scottsdale Police Department in Phoenix, the police may send your blood sample to the Scottsdale crime lab, but they may also send it to the Phoenix crime lab.  If they send it to Scottsdale (which is most likely), the the criminalist (also referred to as forensic scientist) who analyzed your blood would have to testify, qualify as an expert, and lay the foundation for admission of your results into evidence in a court that is foreign to them, with a prosecutors office that is not familiar with how blood is analyzed in Scottsdale.

So if you are reading this after being busted by the DUI taskforce this holiday season in Arizona, take heart. There may be a silver lining.