Battle-tested DWI Strategy
Whether you are charged with your first driving while impaired (DWI) charge or habitual DWI, the case can have significant consequences. Punishment for a first conviction for DWI will suspend your driver license for 12 months. Multiple DWI convictions can be punished by even longer driver license suspensions and mandatory jail time. We work hard for our clients to avoid a conviction for a DWI charge.
Attorney Landon White has extensive experience representing DWI clients. He has undertaken training in Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drugged Driving Defense to better understand the tests and defend his clients.
A successful DWI defense begins with a thorough review of the evidence mistakes made during the investigation. Challenges and defenses could lead to the dismissal of the DWI charge or suppression of certain evidence, such as the BAC. North Carolina will not negotiate a driving while impaired charge away, so a challenge to the charge is a must.
Driving Privileges
When an arrestee registers a BAC of .08 or above or refuses the Intoxilyzer there is a 30-day civil revocation suspending driving privileges. Following conviction, a driver license suspension could be 12 months, 4 years, or permanent. Limited driving privileges are available in most cases, though some with conditions such as an ignition interlock device or a period without any driving privileges.
The BAC
Did you blow a BAC of .08 or above on the breath test? Even if the answer is yes, it does not mean there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt. A BAC of .08 or above is presumptive of guilt, but NOT conclusive. The breath test machine has a built in margin of error approaching .02. And, the breath test only measures a person’s BAC at the time the test was recorded, NOT at the time of driving. Alcohol concentrations are never static. A BAC is either going up or going down.
Drugged Driving
Driving while under the influence of drugs, even lawfully prescribed drugs, is prosecuted the same as driving while impaired on alcohol. Proving a case for drugged driving is substantially more difficult for a prosecutor than proving an alcohol DWI case. If a stopping or arresting officer suspects impairment due to drugs he should call a drug recognition expert for a full DRE evaluation. A normal law enforcement officer is not qualified to testify about impairment due to some substance other than alcohol.
Reasonable and Articulable Suspicion to stop a vehicle.
A law enforcement officer who stops a vehicle must have a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity to stop a vehicle. This is more than a hunch that criminal activity is afoot. If there is no justification to stop a vehicle, there are no grounds to charge for DWI.
Checkpoints
A checkpoint is a suspicionless stop of a vehicle. It is inherently unconstitutional, but allowed under by the Supreme Court of the United States in very limited circumstances. At Landon White Law Firm these suspicion less stops are heavily scrutinized and often challenged. If the checkpoint is no good, the DWI charge is no good.
Probable Cause to Arrest a Driver
Before making an arrest, a police officer must have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. With driving under the influence charges, this means a police officer must go through a series of standardized field sobriety tests. A roadside preliminary breath test (PBT) is not enough to justify an arrest. Did the officer conduct the proper field sobriety tests? Did the officer administer the field sobriety tests as trained? If not, the evidence is not reliable and thus insufficient to support an arrest. Driving after consuming alcohol alone is not illegal when 21 or over.
Other Violations of Rights
Various other violations of a person’s rights can warrant dismissal of a DWI charge. Did the accused request a witness to the breath test and was denied access to that witness? Was the accused’s bail set to high? Did the officer fail to advise the victim of their rights? All of these are things to consider when mounting an effective DWI defense. Various other areas throughout the DWI investigation could lead to suppression of evidence, such as the BAC number, or dismissal of the DWI.
Punishment
Punishment for a Level 5 DWI can be as low as fines, driver license suspension, and community service. Aggravated Level 1 punishment could be as high as 3 years in custody. Habitual DWI becomes a felony and a person’s exposure to incarceration grows even more.