Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

The answer to your question depends on what his conditions of probation were at the time of sentencing. If he was required to remain law abiding, the new charge may result in a probation violation where the sentencing judge may impose any part of the jail time previously stayed.

Assuming the DWI was a first offense without an enhancements he was charged with a fourth degree offense. This is still serious and carries with it maximum criminal penalties of up to 90 days in jail and a $1000 fine. If convicted any subsequent DWI offense would be much more serious and with four offenses in ten years, you can be charged with a felony. As a result, as strong defense on the first alleged incident can be critical to a driver's future. Different Judges give different sentences. Accordingly, understanding your Judge and knowing how to change Judge's can be an important part of the process.

There is also a civil case that results in the revocation of his driver's license. On a first offense over his lifetime, he may be revoked for 30 to 90 days. This is a separate case even though the challenges are largely the same. In order to challenge your license revocation, your spouse must seek a judicial review by filing a petition within 30 days of the offense. Do not forget this critical time period. All too often people with strong defenses come to me too late to challenge the license revocation. The end result goes well beyond simply having your license revoked. A failure to challenge results in an Implied Consent violation on your record which can also affect employment and may be used to enhance any subsequent DWI offense.

There are many challenges to a DWI. Officers must follow very specific steps as part of the arrest. If any one step is missing, the case may be dismissed.

I have over 20 years of experience representing defendants charged in DWI cases. Often the defenses do not become apparent until full discovery has been made. This includes acquiring audiiotapes, videotapes (which may often exist from squad cameras and at the station), as well as police reports. In the end, we scour the records to explore every possible challenge to the prosecution's case.

For a consultation call 612.240.8005.