- Deportation & Removal
- Lawful Permanent Residence
- Removal of Condition (I-751)
- Asylum
- Citizenship
- Consular Processing
DUI/DWI
A person is guilty if DUI/DWI if he/she operates a vehicle with blood alcohol content of 0.08 or alcohol impairs his/her ability to drive. Driving under the influence is a serious offense because it leads to license suspension by Department of Licensing, a Mandatory 1-day in jail, fines, Court-mandated classes, urinalysis and sometimes a requirement of interlock-system installation. Most people errorneously believe that they have to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 to be guilty of DUI. A person can also be guilty of DUI if alcohol or the effect of drugs affects the person’s ability to operate a motor-vehicle.
If you have been charged with DUI, there are options to get off or mitigate the penalty:
- Trial Suppression motions
- Plea-Negotiation + Reduction
- Deferred Prosecution Petition
What you should do if you are stopped on suspicion of drunk driving.
Being stopped on suspicion of drunk driving can be a scary and harrowing experience, so what should you do in the unfortunate event this happens to you. Simply cooperate with the police officer. Failure to cooperate could make a bad situation worse. Do not argue with the policeman because the more you say, the more information he has incriminate you later. Do not answer the question how many drinks you have had. It is in your best interest to be cooperative because:
- Failure to cooperate could lead the policeman to decide to book you in jail instead of just giving you a citation and allowing you to take a taxi home or get picked up by someone;
- Failure to provide breath test sample by blowing into the tube means you declined to take the test. This is within your constitutional right, but it results in suspension of your driver’s license for a period of one year, instead of the standard 90 days.
- Failure to cooperate could escalate an already tense situation leading to a confrontation with the police which could lead to physical altercation (and you know who usually wins) and or additional charges of assault and/or obstruction of justice;
- Your lawyer could still later challenge the admissibility of the breath sample you had provided on various grounds;