Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: First DWI

the chances are slim to none.

First, generally a prosecutor would not offer a Stay of Adjudication on a DWI charge. It is an issue that must generally be litigated in a Rasmussed hearing or at trial.

Second, even if you did receive a stay of adjudication, it would have limited impact since a DWI case has many moving parts. It is a civil case and a criminal case, which are two separate proceedings. Evenif you prevail on the criminal case, the Implied Consent violation woud appear on your record. It could be used to enhance a future DWI and it would affect your insurance rates.

If you had a Blood Alcohol Content over .10 but under .20, and if you do not have a prior DWI within 10 years of the current offense, you were charged with a fourth degree offense. This is a misdemeanor and carries with it maximum criminal penalties of 90 days in jail and a $1000 fine. Different Judges give different sentences. As a result, 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, you may be revoked for up to 90 days. This 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.

There are also additional consequences to a conviction including skyrocketing insurance rates, plate impoundments and sometimes vehicle forfeitures.

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;

� Test Procedures. Testing methods to determine blood alcohol concentrations are imperfect at best. Like any scientific method, any test result has a margin of error. If the machinery is not properly maintained and even if it is properly maintained, the test results may vary fro true Blood Alcohol Concentration. A sufficient variation may result in a reduce charge or no charge.

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Re: First DWI - no lawyer

Short answer: Remote; and this would be of limited utility since an "implied consent" violation is as bad as a DWI conviction for most purposes. Better to retain a good DWI defense lawyer and fight it all.

Most people do not realize, until educated by their lawyer, that in a DWI case in Minnesota, the government in effect prosecutes the driver twice for the same thing. First, the state administratively revokes your driver's license (or "driving privilege" in a non-resident) -- generally by the law enforcement officer handing you a Notice of Revocation. You then have thirty days to challenge that in court, or it is forever too late. This the government claims is a "civil case," and so the double jeopardy clause does not prevent this double prosecution, they say. Most people don't ever learn of this, and so never do so. Only those with a good DWI defense lawyer (such as my clients) generally do so.

Second, the government charges you with a DWI crime. A "crime" cannot result in an adjudication of guilt, conviction or sentence without a trial first, or a guilty plea. A "Stay of Adjudication" is a disposition where the defendant pleads guilty but the court delays ("stays") adjudication of guilt or "conviction" conditionally, for a period of time. At the end of the period of the "stay" if the defendant has not violated any condition, the charge is dismissed without adjudication of guilt, without conviction.

Under Minnesota's current expungment statute, Chapter 609A, a public criminal record cannot be expunged if the person pled guilty, except for certain first time drug offenders. Another lawyer's response to this question was therefore a bit misleading or misinformed.