Colorado’s Express Consent Law provides that, by operating a vehicle in Colorado, you agree to take a chemical test. This arises when an officer requests it to determine your blood-alcohol level or whether there are drugs in your system. An officer can demand a blood or breath test if he or she believes you were driving impaired to the slightest degree by alcohol or drugs. This law applies to everyone and includes out-of-state residents and persons without a valid Colorado driver’s license. You will be served this notice if you refused a chemical test or score 0.08 or more on the breath test.
In the event you took a blood test, you were not served with this. Instead, when the officer gets your blood results back from the toxicology lab, and if they are .08 or more (.02 or more if you are under 21), the officer sends this notice to the DMV and notes on it you were not served. The DMV, upon receiving the notice of excess blood result, will mail you a revocation letter and expect you to request a hearing within 10 days.
If you refuse a test, this Notice of Revocation will provide you with seven days to request a hearing or your license will be revoked for at least one year without the ability to obtain any driving privileges for at least two months. If you took a breath test and scored 0.08 or more, you will also be given seven days to request this hearing to determine whether your driver’s license will be revoked, although the revocation time may not be as long. Drivers that take blood tests usually find out, by a letter from the Colorado Department of Revenue, whether a driver’s license revocation action is being taken against them. If you had a valid license to drive prior to receiving this Notice, the notice should also provide you with a temporary seven-day driver’s permit while the action is pending.
If you are served with an Express Consent Affidavit and Notice of Revocation by the officer along with your summons to appear in court, you should immediately contact an experienced Denver DUI attorney. A Denver DUI lawyer can assist you in properly requesting your Express Consent Hearing from the Department of Revenue. In addition, your Denver DUI lawyer can assist you in answering the questions the Department of Revenue will ask about whether the officer should appear at the hearing and whether you are requesting a permit to drive pending the hearing.
A DUI charge in Denver can have a devastating impact on your life and ability to travel, aside from the potential sentence to jail. We can work toward minimizing any driver’s license consequence you face from the DMV and the court system. If you have been charged with a DUI in Colorado, call The Tiftickjian Law Firm, P.C. to speak with an experienced Denver DUI attorney.