Harahan Field Sobriety Lawyer

Experienced Field Sobriety Lawyer in Harahan

Blue lights in your rearview a few blocks from your own house have a way of making a routine drive feel like the start of something much bigger. One roadside test. A few instructions from an officer standing over you with a flashlight. By the end of the stop, you’re being told to step out and put your hands behind your back. A Harahan field sobriety test lawyer looks at that moment differently than most people do.

Standardized field sobriety tests are supposed to be administered and scored a specific way, this means that officers can make mistakes: skipped instructions, balance issues that have nothing to do with alcohol, tests run on uneven pavement or in headlights instead of steady light. Any one of those can undo the whole result.

Troy Broussard has spent over 30 years building DWI defenses out of exactly those errors. Send us the details of your stop, and we’ll walk you through where yours can be challenged.

Real Case Result: Not Guilty at Trial on a 0.26% Breath Test

A breath test result of 0.26%, more than three times the legal limit, is the kind of number other attorneys might use to push a client toward a plea. In Houma, Louisiana, Troy Broussard took that case to a jury instead. The jury came back with a not guilty verdict.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.

The Real Cost of a DWI in Harahan

A license suspension is often the first consequence people think about after a DWI arrest, but it is rarely the last one.

Louisiana defines this charge under La. R.S. 14:98, and a first offense conviction carries a mandatory license suspension of one year, two years if your blood alcohol level was 0.15% or higher. Add to that a fine between $300 and $1,000 and up to six months in jail, and the sentence itself is only part of what changes.

There is also a separate clock running that has nothing to do with your court date. Under La. R.S. 32:667, refusing a breath test or failing one gives you just 30 days from your arrest to request a hearing and contest the automatic suspension of your license. That deadline applies no matter how your criminal case turns out.

Many Harahan residents work in Elmwood, at Ochsner, or commute into New Orleans, and a suspended license can be the difference between keeping a job and losing one before the case is even resolved.

This information reflects Louisiana law as of July 2026.

Cases Our Harahan Field Sobriety Attorney Handles

Harahan Police Department runs its own traffic enforcement and DWI checkpoints along Jefferson Highway, which means a stop here can start differently than one on a state highway or interstate. Our DWI and field sobriety defense attorneys look closely at how the stop began and what followed, including:

• Checkpoint and traffic stop defense: Whether the stop itself, or the checkpoint procedure, held up to the legal standard required.
• Field sobriety test challenges: The walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand, and the eye test, and where each one commonly breaks down.
• Breath test defense: Intoxilyzer results, calibration logs, and how the machine was operated.
• First, second, and third offense DWI: Defense built around your specific record and history.
• License suspension hearings: Challenging the automatic suspension that follows a refused or failed test.

What Backs Up That Defense

A field sobriety test is a judgment call dressed up as science. The officer decides how to score your balance, your footing, and your eye movement, often on a roadside with uneven pavement, headlights, and passing traffic. Fatigue, nerves, a bad knee, or the wrong pair of shoes can all look like impairment to an officer who was never trained to tell the difference.

Troy Broussard is a certified in the same NHTSA field sobriety tests Louisiana officers use, and a certified operator of the Intoxilyzer breath testing equipment Louisiana officers use, and he has completed the National College for DUI Defense’s intensive training program at Harvard Law School on the science behind them. The National College for DUI Defense has also featured his trial record across Jefferson, St. Tammany, and Terrebonne Parish courts as one you can confirm directly with the clerks.

When we take apart how a test was scored, we are working from the same protocol the officer was supposed to follow.

Harahan Field Sobriety Lawyer FAQ

Does Harahan run DWI checkpoints?

Yes. The Harahan Police Department conducts its own traffic enforcement and sobriety checkpoints along Jefferson Highway, separate from Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office patrols. A stop that starts at a checkpoint has its own legal requirements, and those requirements can be challenged.

What court hears a DWI case out of Harahan?

Harahan DWI cases are typically heard at First Parish Court in Metairie, with felony charges heard at the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna. Troy Broussard has appeared in both courts for decades and has sat on the bench himself as an ad hoc judge in Jefferson Parish.

Can a field sobriety test really be challenged?

Yes. These tests depend on how they were given as much as how you performed. Troy Broussard’s NHTSA certification means he knows the exact standard an officer is supposed to follow, and where departures from that standard show up.

What happens if I am convicted after a failed field sobriety test?

A conviction can mean license suspension, fines, jail time, and a record that follows you into future jobs and housing. Challenging the test itself, before it becomes a conviction, is where an experienced attorney makes the most difference.

Your Next Move After a Harahan DWI Arrest

A checkpoint stop or a roadside test is not the same as a conviction, and it can be challenged by someone who knows exactly how these tests are supposed to work. Whether your case started at a Jefferson Highway checkpoint or a routine traffic stop, the details of how that stop happened and how the test was scored matter more than most people realize going in.

Contact The DWI Defense Center LLC today for a confidential consultation before your next court date. We will walk through what happened, what the evidence actually shows, and what your options look like from here. The sooner we start, the more time we have to build your defense and protect your license along the way.