Legal Question in DUI Law in North Carolina

I was the sole occupant in a single car accident over 3 years ago in North Caroline while I was a Marine stationed there. I was injured, so I was taken to the hospital where they did blood work to assess my sobriety. I was assigned a public defender. The blood test was inconclusive to charge me. The police/justice system took my license at the time of the accident. The case has been continued multiple times ever since. I no longer live in North Carolina, but have not been able to get my public defender to settle the case and get my license reinstated. What are my options for recourse?


Asked on 3/23/14, 9:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Your terminology and understanding is a bit incorrect. Some of the things you have stated simply are not possible. If your case was in Onslow County you were assigned a Court Appointed Attorney not a Public Defender - which would actually be odd if you were in the Marine Corps because you need to be declared indigent to be eligible for Court Appointed Counsel. Onslow County does not have a Public Defender's office. The blood test was not inconclusive to charge you - you were most likely charged, rather the blood test may have been inconclusive to convict you - however, bear in mind in NC you can be convicted in ways other than blood / breath test results. If your license was a NC license, taking it was appropriate - if out of state, they should not have taken it but often do anyway. It would be highly unlikely for your case to be open for three years - none of our judges would allow that absent extreme circumstances. If your case is still open and you still have an attorney, you need to contact him or her ASAP and address these questions to your attorney - that should be common sense. If you still have charges pending but no current attorney, most likely your case is in a called and failed status and an order for arrest is outstanding. The other possibility is your case is disposed of in some fashion either through a plea or dismissal but you never did the things necessary to have your license reinstated.

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Answered on 3/23/14, 10:16 pm


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