This is one of the most common questions we get asked as DUI attorneys. Generally speaking, yes, you can be convicted of DUI for sleeping in your vehicle even if the keys are not in the ignition and even if you are sleeping in the backseat of your car. The State does not have to prove that you were impaired while driving the vehicle, but only that you were impaired while you were in physical control of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the Tennessee Supreme Court has stretched the physical control requirement to where an individual was found to be in physical control in a case where a vehicle was out of gas because it was close enough to a gas station that the defendant could have walked to the gas station to fill up with gas even though the defendant did not fill up the vehicle. Regardless, our attorneys are familiar with the nuances and specific factors the court looks at to determine whether you were in physical control of the vehicle, even when asleep, and we will force the State to establish that they can prove the physical control element beyond a reasonable doubt.