Legal Question in DUI Law in Washington

Re: Dui

Call the police station to see if a police report was prepared and filed. If so, find out which prosecutor's office and call there to determine the what's happening. Or, you can hire an attorney to do this for you. If you prefer to just wait without knowing, make sure that your son's address is current with the DOL as that address will be used by the court.

At your service,

Re: Dui

Frankly, the officer is right: there's a chance your son might not be charged. If we take the facts as you state them, he was pulled over not for a driving pattern but for an equipment issue. There is, therefore, no driving pattern to show influence/impact of alcohol. If he did passably well on the FSTs and has BACs below the limit, it's unlikely that a jury would convict him of DUI. Therefore, a prosecutor would be reluctant to charge the same. While there are lesser possible charges, the two that come to mind don't really apply to the facts: reckless driving and negligent driving both require a driving pattern issue.

Bottom line: your son may have learned a valuable lesson and gotten a break. Frankly, I personally see no benefit in stirring the pot by calling the police agency and the prosecutor to push for a decision--you may end up with one you don't want. I suggest leaving it alone and seeing if anything comes of it.

Re: Dui

The problem with this scenario is that the prosecution still could charge DUI under the "affected by" prong of the DUI law; i.e., that your son's driving was affected by his use of alcohol even though he was under the .08 limit. I would agree that you need to wait to see if anything comes of this by action of the prosecutor later. It can take up to 30 days for the prosecutor to file and charge a driving offense. Good Luck!