Challenging a DUI Stop Made for Driving Below the Speed Limit

Attorney Answer

Driving five miles under the limit, with no swerving, is a thin basis for a stop — but thin is not the same as unlawful, and no honest lawyer will give you a percentage chance of dismissal at this stage.

Start with what this question is not. There is no Kentucky statute that sets out when an officer may stop a car. The standard comes from constitutional case law developed by the courts, and it asks whether the officer had reasonable suspicion — specific facts, not a hunch — that a traffic violation or a crime was occurring. Because it is judge-made and fact-driven, the answer in your case depends almost entirely on evidence you have not seen yet: the officer's written narrative, the cruiser video, and anything else he says he observed before the blue lights came on.

That matters because "he pulled me over for going 5 under" is your account of the reason, not necessarily the reason the officer will give in his report. Officers routinely list several observations. A stop that looks unjustified from the driver's seat can be defended with facts the driver never noticed — drifting within a lane, a wide turn, a late stop, an equipment issue, or a report from another driver. Until you have the report and the video, nobody can evaluate this, and anyone who tells you your odds without them is guessing.

What the officer told you — that you were not swerving — is worth preserving precisely because it narrows what he can later claim. But it is a starting point for a motion, not a result.

As for whether to hire a lawyer for your first appearance: the first court date is normally an arraignment, where the charge is read and future dates are set. You are not required to resolve anything that day. The reason to have counsel is not the arraignment itself — it is that challenging a stop happens through a written pretrial motion to suppress, filed on the court's schedule, argued with the video in evidence, with the officer subject to cross-examination. That is the part that is very difficult to do yourself, and the part where the deadline is easy to miss. If cost is the obstacle, tell the court at your first appearance that you cannot afford a lawyer and ask about appointed counsel.

What you can do

1. Do not write out your own account of what happened. Notes you create yourself are not protected by attorney-client privilege, can be seized or subpoenaed, and can be used to impeach you if your testimony later differs. Instead preserve the records that already exist — texts, call logs, emails, receipts, photos and location history — along with the names and contact details of any witnesses, and give your account to your attorney verbally. Memory degrades fast and this document will matter later. 2. Have the citation, any paperwork you were handed, and any bond receipt in one folder. 3. Get the video requested early. Cruiser and body-camera footage is often retained for a limited period and then overwritten. This is the most common piece of evidence lost between arrest and hearing. 4. Request the officer's report and the full charging documents so you can see the stated basis for the stop rather than the one you were told roadside. 5. Appear at the arraignment. Do not discuss the facts of the case with anyone but your lawyer. 6. Have a lawyer assess whether a motion to suppress the stop is worth filing, and calendar the court's pretrial motion deadline the moment it is set.

A second case may be running alongside this one. If you were asked to take a breath or blood test, or if anything was said to you about your driving privileges, that piece has its own paperwork and its own clock, and it moves independently of the criminal case. It can also come out differently. Do not sit on anything you were handed about your license while you wait for your court date.