Comprehensive Arizona DUI Information
arizona dui
actual physical control
You don't have to drive in Arizona to be charged with DUI. The law says that if you are in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in Arizona, you can be found guilty of drunk driving.
What is Actual Physical Control?
Actual physical control is found in cases where the person is, for all intents and purposes, in control of the vehicle and has a present ability to move the vehicle.
The most common cause of a physical control charge is when the defendant realizes that he/she is drunk and pulls over to sleep it off. Many times, a police officer happens upon a parked car, wakes the startled driver who had the engine running for the A/C in the hot Arizona summer, and proceeds with a DUI investigation.
While such charge is ultimately left to the discretion of the cop, once an officer does file the charge the prosecutor will usually run with it.
A jury will be allowed to decide whether you were in actual physical control. As a whole, these types of cases are more open to attach in front of a jury than their driving counterparts.