Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: Implied Consent

The question is whether the information with eth Department of Public Saftey is based on the criminal offense of DWI or on the license revocation, which is the Implied Consent. To prevail on a DWI in reality, you must not only avoid conviction on the criminal matter,but challenge and prevail on the license revocation. If you do not, for all intents and purposes it will appear as an alcohol related violation.

Re: Implied Consent

In the typical DWI case, the arresting officer initiates BOTH a criminal-DWI charge, including a summons to court, AND also an "implied consent" administrative revoation of drivers license, based either on "test refusal" or "test" rerport of 0.08 or more. These are two, separate legal actions -- one criminal and the other is claimed to be "civil." (This is how they claim to avoid the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy.)

In my experience, most people are aware of the former (criminal DWI with court date) but totally unaware of the latter (administrive revocation of drivers license). It appears from your question that you were like most people -- unaware of the implied consent license revocation and the procedure to fight it.

It is unfortunate that you did not retain a good criminal defense lawyer to help you with the DWI case. If you had, he or she would have urged you to fight the "implied consent" license revocaiton within 30 days, and may have been able to win it, thus getting it erased from your drivers license record.

As it stands now, since the 30 day window has long passed and you apparently did not challenge it at court hearing, it is now too late. It appears that there is nothing you can do now, barring a legal challenge to the statute all the way to the Supreme Court. It will be on your drivers license record forever, under current law.