A.R.S. § 28-1381 — Driving Under the Influence

What the statute says

The statute creates four separate ways to commit DUI. Under (A)(1), it is unlawful to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle while impaired to the slightest degree by alcohol, drugs, or vapors. Under (A)(2), it is unlawful to have an alcohol concentration of .08 or more within two hours of driving. Under (A)(3), it is unlawful to drive with any prohibited drug or its metabolite in the body. Under (A)(4), commercial drivers are held to a .04 standard. Prosecutors routinely charge (A)(1) and (A)(2) together for the same stop.

“Actual physical control” matters: Arizona can charge a person who never drove — someone asleep in a parked car with the keys — and juries decide control from the totality of the circumstances, including where the car was, whether the engine ran, and whether the person posed a real risk of driving. Someone who pulled over to sleep it off is not automatically guilty, but the line is drawn case by case.

Penalties

A first offense is a class 1 misdemeanor: at least ten consecutive days in jail, nine of which can be suspended on completion of alcohol screening and any ordered education or treatment; roughly $1,500 in fines and assessments; a 90-day license suspension; and a certified ignition interlock device for twelve months. A second offense within 84 months carries at least 90 days in jail with 30 served consecutively, a one-year license revocation, community restitution, and substantially higher assessments.

Defenses

DUI cases are attacked at every link in the chain: whether the stop was lawful, whether field sobriety tests were properly administered and scored, whether the breath or blood testing followed the required procedures, whether the two-hour window can actually be established, and — for (A)(3) drug charges — whether the substance found was an impairing drug at all rather than an inactive metabolite. Arizona case law does not permit a conviction under (A)(3) for a non-impairing metabolite, and registered medical marijuana patients have an affirmative defense that requires the State to tie the concentration to actual impairment.

Which defenses fit depends entirely on the facts of the stop and the testing. A Phoenix DUI attorney can evaluate the investigation against what the statute actually requires — and the earlier that happens, the more of the record is still fresh.