High BAC

There are several types of sentencing enhancements, including high BAC or blood alcohol content, which can increase the punishment in your Pennsylvania DUI case. An experienced Pennsylvania DUI lawyer from Zachary B. Cooper, Attorney at Law, P.C. will do everything possible to effectively challenge both your underlying driving under the influence charge and any sentencing enhancements, and protect you from unwanted consequences.

Pennsylvania now has a three-tiered DUI law with sentences that are partially based on the driver's blood alcohol content (BAC). The three BAC levels are:

  • General Impairment - .08 to .099 percent BAC
  • High BAC - .10 to .159 percent BAC
  • Highest BAC - .16 percent and greater BAC

It may be possible to protect you from the increased punishment of a high-BAC sentencing enhancement by challenging the result of your chemical test that determined your BAC. Your PA DUI lawyer will examine your blood or breath test results to determine whether they can be challenged.

Your Pennsylvania DUI attorney can determine whether your most promising defense lies in attacking the integrity of the chemical test itself or by arguing that even if the test result was valid, it doesn't mean that you were legally under the influence when behind the wheel. One common way of introducing this idea to the jury in a Pennsylvania DUI trial is by explaining the concept of 'rising BAC.'

'Rising BAC' is a very important concept when challenging a high-BAC Pennsylvania DUI charge. Rising BAC explains why your chemical test result may have been over the limit at the police station, but not while you were behind the wheel. Many jurors don't understand that it's possible for your BAC to continue to rise after you took your last drink, so it's up to your Pennsylvania DUI attorney to explain the idea of rising BAC.

The consequences of a Pennsylvania DUI conviction and a sentencing enhancement like high BAC are severe, but it might be possible to avoid some or all of these repercussions. A skilled Pennsylvania DUI lawyer from Zachary B. Cooper, Attorney at Law, P.C. will determine the appropriate challenges to your PA drunk driving case, and do everything possible to protect you from the consequences of a Pennsylvania driving under the influence charge.