Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: Driving after DUI

Thank you for the post.

If you had a Blood Alcohol Content under .20, and you have no prior DWI within the last 10 years, you were 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 foru ofenses in ten years, you can be charged with a felony. As a result , as torng defense on the first alleged incident can be critical to your 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 your driver's license. On a first offense over your lifetime, you may be revoked for 30 to 90 days. You will likely receive your revocation notice after the blood is tested and if it results in a Blood Alcohol COntent over 08. The revocation is a separate case even though the challenges are largely the same. In order to challenge you license revocation, you 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.

� Reasonable Suspicion. The officer must have reasonable suspicion to believe a specific crime has been committed in order to stop a person. If that reasonable suspicion is lacking the stop and the ticket may be invalid;

� Probable Cause to arrest and charge. the officer must make sufficient observations to form a basis for probable cause to believe that you were operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Oftentimes, officers perform field sobriety tests incorrectly making the arrest invalid;

� Procedures at the Station. The officer must follow very specific procedures at the station including reading and recording an Implied Consent Advisory that informs you that you have a right to a lawyer. If any of the steps are omitted, the charges may be dismissed;

For a Consultation call us at 612.240.8005.

Re: Driving after DUI

The blood samples are sent to St. Paul where the lab work is done at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It takes about a month to get the results. So you may have a few weeks before you hear anything.

Re: Driving after DUI

If the only evidentiary alcohol test was the blood test, then it seems likely that any initial consequences will await the lab result. However, it would be wise to consult a good DWI lawyer, like me, ASAP since there are short deadlines to appeal the administrative license revocation.

FFI: www.Liberty-Lawyer.com

http://www.liberty-lawyer.com/dwiduidrivingrelated.html