What You Should Know About DUI Cases
When you or someone you care about has been accused of driving under the influence (DUI) in Washington, it’s incredibly important that you contact an experienced DUI attorney as soon as you can. The team at Feldman & Lee has handled thousands of DUI cases in the state. With a collective experience length of four decades, our firm has cultivated many relationships within the courts. We know who the prosecutors and judges are, and they know who we are: tenacious and thorough defenders of our clients’ best interests. They know we are tactful and skilled, which allows us to get better results for clients during negotiations.
What to Expect
When you are charged with a DUI, you can expect to have to jump through some hoops during the legal process. Some type of drug and alcohol evaluation is almost always required, for example. Chemical treatment and evaluation experts have become somewhat of a cottage industry for the courts over the years, so it’s vital to know which programs are right in your situation and which are not. Thanks to our extensive experience, we are also aware of which experts will treat you properly and which ones may act more like a rubber stamp. You must complete the court-ordered actions or risk facing serious consequences, so let us make sure you get where you need to go.
DUI Arrests: What You Need to Know
Being arrested for a DUI can be a scary and stressful experience. If you are being arrested, it’s important you take the proper steps to prevent the case from becoming more stacked against you. Mistakes made during arrest can also be addressed and potentially mitigated by our skilled staff.
- Keep calm through out the entire process. Arguing or fighting with the officers can lead to even more serious charges than the one you are already facing.
- Be polite. However, don’t answer any questions about drinking alcohol or admit that you did in any way, shape or form. Anything you tell officers can be used against you in court later, so keep that in mind.
- Ask to speak to an attorney right away.
- Don’t take field sobriety tests as these tend to have a higher margin of error. Indicate you will take a test back at the police station. While you can refuse a breath or blood test later at the station, this may not help your case and can actually make the outcome worse.
After you have been arrested for DUI, the state and the DOL will immediately start actions against you to suspend or revoke your driver’s license and to potentially fine you and put you in jail.
Appearing in Court
At the time of your arrest, you will be given a ticket or a summons that tells you the date that you have to appear in court to face driving under the influence charges.
For some drivers, it feels humiliating to have to appear in public to answer charges of being drunk.
In today’s courts, if you deny the charges, plead not guilty, and try to fight the case, chances are you and everyone else in the courtroom are going to see a video of you failing the field sobriety test taken from the officer’s dashboard camera or taken at the jail where you were processed.
Losing Your Driver’s License
In all states, even for a first-time conviction, your sentence will include the loss of driving privileges for a period of time. Even if your state offers a hardship license that allows you to drive to work or school during the time your license is revoked or suspended, your driving privileges will be drastically curtailed.1
In some states, if you refused to take the field sobriety test or submit to a breathalyzer or blood test, your driver’s license is suspended immediately, even before you go to court.
In addition to the guilt and shame you may be feeling, a suspended license may make you feel like a burden as you may have no choice but to lean on friends and loved ones to get from one place to another.
Paying Fines
If you are convicted of driving while intoxicated, part of your sentence will definitely include paying a fine. All states have laws setting minimum and maximum fines for drunk driving, but those penalties can be enhanced by other circumstances.1
For example, if the property was damaged, someone was injured, or a child was endangered as a result of your driving while drunk, the fines can be increased. In most states, you will also have to pay the court costs associated with your case.
Can I get my First DUI Reduced to a Different Charge?
The following charges are reduced charges to a DUI, though not a separate criminal offense.
- Wet reckless,
- Dry reckless,
- An exhibition of speed, or
- Drunk in public
In situations where the facts and circumstances of your case are such that the prosecutor may have difficulty proving DUI in a trial, they may be willing to plea bargain to a lower offense.
Is a Reduction Possible if the Prosecutor is Unable to Establish who the Driver of the Car was?
There are circumstances where police are unable to definitively determine who was driving.
This might arise in the following scenario’s:
- An accident where the occupants are outside the vehicle and refuse to acknowledge who was driving.
- Someone reported your vehicle’s license number to police and police come to your home and find you inebriated.
- You are found parked or asleep in your vehicle and police observe that you were under the influence
While there may be some evidence pointing to you as the likely driver in any of these scenarios, the prosecutor may be more amenable to a reduction of the charges in the interests of justice.
Degree of intoxication for a positive DUI
A positive DUI test confirms that the driver of the vehicle has more than the allowed level of drugs in their system. In Canada, the maximum allowed legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for licenced drivers is under 80 mg of alcohol in a sample of 100 ml of blood, or 0.08 (“Impaired Driving“). Drivers that have a higher level of drugs in their system are committing an offence that has very serious repercussions as per the Canadian Legal System.
In the case of modern or synthetic drugs, there are other tests that can easily determine if the person has them in their system or not. The more serious the drug the more chances are there to receive a serious sentence. In such cases, the felon must hire a DUI lawyer who remains familiar with the Canadian DUI laws to make sure they stand a fighting chance.
Consequences of DUI
If a person is knowingly under the influence of drugs and still decides to drive, he or she will face some serious consequences. The consequences include putting their own lives as well as others in danger. The person committing the crime can also damage their own property as well as others. If and when caught the person under DUI will be charged and made sure they face serious punishments. Once a person is charged and convicted of DUI, it can have serious issues for your future.
How to avoid DUI
Given the seriousness of the crime, one must never drive while they have consumed any sort of drug. It is highly recommended by the authorities to avoid driving at any cost while you are intoxicated. Furthermore, there are taxi services available now that can drive you home in such conditions. This responsibility of not driving while being intoxicated is not restricted to an individual only. The police encourage people to report if someone else who might be intoxicated is driving.
Legal Aspects of a DUI
In Canada, if you’re caught driving under a DUI you will receive a 90-day licence suspension. Almost 7-day to one-month vehicle impoundment. And a fine of $550 or more. These repercussions may increase if the driver hits someone or damages the property of someone. If you have been charged with a DUI, it’s very important that you hire a DUI lawyer.
Breathalyzer Test Results
The most common way to determine whether someone is impaired while driving is by a breathalyzer breath test. These tests are designed to chemically measure the alcohol that’s released by your lungs. While the smell that alcohol leaves behind in your mouth can potentially skew the reading (which is just one of the reasons these tests aren’t irrefutably reliable), the test isn’t dictated by that smell.
Here’s how the breathalyzer test works:
- The officer will have you breathe into the device.
- The device then projects an infrared beam through a chamber that “captures” your exhaled breath.
- The alcohol particles will absorb some of the energy from the beam, while the rest will make it to a sensor at the other end.
- The ratio of your blood alcohol content (BAC) is calculated with a math formula that compares the differences in infrared released by the lamp to the level detected by the sensor.
- A final reading is given, showing the percentage of your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC).
However, before an officer can administer a breathalyzer test, they must observe you for at least fifteen minutes. If they don’t, then any evidence the test gives them will be inadmissible in court.