Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: Is it worth contesting the D.U.I. charge?

The answer depends on a lot of factors, some of which you either don't know yet, or haven't supplied: Your roadside breath test (a "PBT" Preliminary Breath Test) isn't terribly important - it's considered another Field Sobriety Test (like the ones you likely did on the side of the road, common FSTs are "9-Step-Walk-and-Turn", "Finger to Nose", counting backwards, etc). The PBT isn't admissable as evidence against you of your blood-alcohol level. The PBT isn't considered accurate enough - it's only used as one factor in the police decision as to whether they have enough evidence to arrest you for DWI.

Another important fact is whether or not you submitted to a test (breath, blood or urine) at the police station and if so, what the result was.

Another fact (which you may not know yet) is what the officer's version of the facts are. Police reports commonly don't reflect the events in a way that is recalled by the motorist. I give a copy of the report to clients and have them highlight the areas they disagree with and we then go through each part and examine any corroborating evidence.

DWI's are still often seen as simply traffic offenses. They are usually far from simple. As the impact on people's lives continues to expand, it becomes increasingly important for those charged to at least speak with a lawyer before going into the courtroom. Most attorneys who practice in DWI will speak with you to review your case at no charge.

Re: Is it worth contesting the D.U.I. charge?

Yes, in my view it is worth fighting back after an arrest on suspicion of DWI in Minnesota. Why? For the person with no similar priors, they are looking at extremely high insurance costs for the five years after a DWI arrest. The cost of hiring a good DWI defense lawyer is only a fraction of that cost.

In order to avoid the high-risk high premium auto insurance costs, all alcohol-related events must be removed or kept off the "driving record" kept by the MN "Dept of Public Safety." That means (1) making a legal challenge to the "implied consent" administrative license revocation; AND (2) defending the criminal-DWI charge so that no alcohol-related conviction results -- BOTH. You only have 30 days from the date of the license revocation -- in breath test cases normally the date of the arrest -- within which to serve and file a challenge to the implied consent license revocation. You'll need a lawyer's help with that. If you do it on the 31st day, it won't do any good. Even one day past 30 days and it will be too late.

You would be well advised to meet personally with a DWI defense lawyer to discuss the details of your case, as well as to learn some of the basic information about defending these cases. I offer a free one-hour initial office consultation on cases like these. You are welcome to call me to make an appointment. Keep in mind that time is of the essence in these cases, as already mentioned.

Re: Is it worth contesting the D.U.I. charge?

Interesting facts.

You left out whether you were given a breath test at the police station. The one at the station is the only one they can use as evidence in court. The one in the car is only for purposes of deciding if they should arrest you.

What your reading was at the station is probably the most essential thing I would need to know.

I also have the impression that maybe you were not the one who was really driving. If that is true, it would be better to deny the driving now and take a charge of false info to a police officer - which would not be a driving charge and would not go on your driving record.

There is a very short time period in which you may file a petition challenging the suspension of your license. If you have a case, such as someone else was really driving, you have to move very quickly. A lot of folks don't get to my office until it's too late.

Good luck.