Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: DUI-What do I do?

You blew a .144 on a preliminary breath test. It is very likely your blood test will be over the legal limit (.08). Your blood test results will come back in 3-6 weeks. You should not wait! You should immediately retain an attorney to pursue an implied consent petition so that you can get your license back as soon as possible.

On October 5, the Minnesota Supreme Court struck down a law permitted the government to have a hearing without calling to testify the person who withdrew the blood or who analyzed the blood. Move on this quickly before the government learns how to overcome this case. Chuck Ramsay. 651.604.0000. www.ramsaydevore.com

Re: DUI-What do I do?

If I understand the situation, you took a "PBT" (portable breath test) at the site of the stop and blew a .144. You then submitted to a blood test. You won't be charged with a DWI and your license won't be revoked until the blood test result comes in. Your blood test was sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul. It takes the BCA lab at least three weeks to process it. You should figure it will take between three and five weeks before you learn something.

Here is what could happen:

If your blood test is below. O8, your driver's license will not be revoked. It is still possible that the prosecution will charge you with a DWI, but it is more likely that you would be charged with Careless Driving.

If your blood test is .o8 or more, two things will happen:

1. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety will send you a letter

revoking your driving privileges. The letter is sent to the address on your driver's license. If the address on your DL is not your current address, you may never receive the letter because they don't forward these letters. This means that you should immediately go to your nearest Driver's License office and change the address on your DL.

The letter you receive from them won't tell you your exact test result, it will only tell you that your DL is going to be revoked. It will indicate the length of the revocation and the date in which the revocation begins You can expect that they will give you a five day grace period before the revocation starts.

2. You will be charged with DWI. You will either be sent a ticket

or a 'long form complaint.' The long form complaint is drafted by the prosecutor. It could take several weeks for you to get the complaint in the mail. The complaint will include a court date. At your first court hearing, you will be expected to enter a plea to the charge.

Bottom line: Three weeks at the earliest on your driver's license

status. It is more likely to take four to six weeks. Four to six

weeks on your criminal charges.

I encourage you to make an appointment to meet with me if and when you are charged. The first appointment is free of charge.

Herbert C. Kroon

Attorney at Law

Chesley, Kroon, Chambers, Harvey & Carpenter [email protected]

Re: DUI-What do I do?

It may take a few weeks before you hear anything, and if your driver's license does not bear your current address, beware. Usually the first thing you'll hear about the matter is by receiving a letter from the Department of Public Safety revoking your license. They will only send it to the address they have on file and they will specifically ask the post office not to forward it. If your address is not current, you should go and get it changed ASAP. If it is current, you still need to be wary that criminal charges could be filed against you and a court date could be set up without you knowing about it. The best way to handle this is by frequently contacting the county of your offense to see if a case has been filed yet. If you decide to hire an attorney, usually the attorney will handle this for you and monitor the case to make sure you don't miss any important deadlines or any court dates.