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If you go to court and plead guilty to a DUI, there is a 100% chance that the judge will find you guilty of DUI, and a 100% chance you will have a DUI conviction on your permanent criminal record. If you plead guilty, you are guaranteed to suffer every consequence the court wants to impose.
However, fighting your case means that a lawyer will do everything possible to positively affect the outcome. Fighting your case means that the prosecutor may not be able to get all the witnesses or evidence he needs to convict you. Fighting your case means you have a chance.
There are significant legal reasons to fight your case. Perhaps the officer didn’t have a valid legal reason for stopping you in the first place, and the evidence gathered is suppressed. Perhaps the breath machine is out of calibration, and your .09 is really a 07. Perhaps the blood sample is clotted or fermented, and produces a falsely high reading. These things will only be known if the case is fought.
And even in those cases where the BAC is accurate, and reads .08 or higher after you were stopped, what does that mean about the time of driving. It is not illegal to be .08 at the time of the Breath Test; the crime is driving above the legal limit. It is quite possible (even probable) that someone with a BAC above the legal limit at the time of testing was below the legal limit at the time of driving. This is due to the inherent delay in absorption, distribution and elimination of alcohol in the human body. These things will never be explored, unless you fight your case.
There are emotional reasons too. As any boxer will tell you, it is better to go down swinging than to back down from a fight. Shrinking from battle, whether in the courtroom or elsewhere in life, can bring emotional wounds that are far more hurtful than anything the judge can do to you. Sometimes it is important to fight, just so you know you have done everything in your power to help the situation. To not do so is to carry emotional baggage for a lifetime.
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