Many people who come into our offices after having been charged or arrested for a Driving While Impaired (DWI) offense figure there’s a way to “beat” a DWI, and that if only they find a magic key, they’ll be sprung loose from the nightmare of a DWI conviction.
It’s a nice thought, but there is no easy way to “beat” a DWI, except in not getting one in the first place.
1. Don’t Drink and Drive
Obviously if you don’t drink and drive, you’ve already “beaten” your DWI. You’ve also done us all a favor by not going on the roads in an impaired manner. Since the 1980s, with the advent of tougher DWI laws, the country has seen a dramatic reduction in traffic fatalities and injuries.
It’s not a satisfying answer to the question, but here’s something you should consider if you’re reading this article after having gotten your first DWI.
In North Carolina, a second DWI conviction within seven years is a mandatory 7 day stay in jail, and up to a year long prison sentence, depending on other factors. In addition, your license will be suspended for four (4) years, with a limited privilege only available to you at 2 years upon successful review at a DMV hearing.
So if you’ve gotten your first DWI, you must absolutely not get a second one, because the consequences for a second DWI within 7 years are severe. In addition, as of 2011, DWIs with three or more grossly aggravating factors can mean up to $10,000 in fines and 3 years in prison.
2. Don’t Answer Questions
If you’ve been stopped by an officer during a checkpoint, a regular traffic stop (for speeding, serving, expired registration etc.), or after an accident, you should politely refuse to answer questions.
While you must provide your license and registration, and you may be required to exit your vehicle for officer safety, you are under no obligation to answer any other questions about where you have been, where you are going, how much you’ve had to drink, and so forth. In addition, you don’t have to perform any field sobriety tests, you don’t have to blow into the portable Preliminary Breath Test (PBT), and you don’t have to count numbers, or say your alphabet backwards.
If the officer wants to arrest you, then place your arms behind your back and comply. But don’t answer questions or engage in conversation.
The best way to help your lawyer beat your DWI is to give the officer as little information as possible about your condition prior to and during your arrest.
3. To Blow or Not to Blow
Can a DWI be beaten by not blowing into a breathalyzer machine (Intox EC/IR II)? Maybe. But there are risks and costs. First, the Intox EC/IR II machine is the machine that is downtown either at the Public Safety Center, or at one of the police departments such as the Apex Police Department or Cary Police Department. An officer will typically take you to the closest Intoxilyzer room so that you can submit a breath sample.
Prior to asking you to submit to the Intoximeter chemical analysis, the officer or chemical analyst will inform you of your DWI Implied Consent rights. He or she will explain that your refusal to blow (in North Carolina, this is called a “willful refusal”) shall result in a one-year automatic license suspension, regardless of whether you are ultimately convicted of the DWI.
So the cost of a refusal is high. In addition, during the first six months of the refusal, you are ineligible for a limited driving privilege (LDP) which can be a real handicap, especially in Wake County with its inadequate public transportation system. And in order to be eligible for a LDP after the first six months, your case must be resolved and you must have completed your Substance Abuse Treatment if found guilty.
What are the benefits? In some cases, the police officer may decline to get a search warrant and get your blood. In those cases, the State will lack some crucial information – the Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC) or Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) – to prove your guilt.
But a police officer may take the short walk to the Magistrate and request a Search Warrant, which in almost all cases will be granted, and draw your blood, which will produce both a BAC for trial and also result in an automatic suspension for your willful refusal.
4. Witnesses Fail to Show
A DWI might be won by default – the failure of the State to produce its witnesses within a reasonable period of time may result in the Judge denying the State’s “Motion to Continue” and therefore requiring the State to dismiss the charge.
However, if the State’s key witnesses – either a officer, a chemical analyst, or an outside, civilian witness – are not present before the case appears on its final setting, then most judges will deny the State’s motion to continue, and force the case to be dismissed.
The State does have the option to refile any criminal case for which double jeopardy has not attached, and in the case of a voluntary dismissal (VD) in this case, jeopardy did not attach and a prosecutor may opt to refile.
5. Failure to Provide a Witness to Observe the Blow
Since a key piece of evidence for the state is oftentimes the chemical analysis – that magic number showing a.08 BAC or more – one of ways that a Defendant can potentially win the case is if he or she requested a witness be present during the breathalyzer analysis, and police, deputies, or other officials thwarted the efforts of the witness to be present.
In State v. Ferguson , the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the State’s actions prevented a witness from observing the Defendant’s chemical analysis. In that case, the Defendant was picked up by police, and brought to the breathalyzer room. He was informed of his rights to call a witness, and that he had 30 minutes to have the witness show up at the room. He called his wife, who could not believe that he was accused of a DWI because his speech did not sound slurred to her at all. Nonetheless, she got to the lobby of the building within 20 minutes, but was prevented from witnessing the Defendant, who later refused to blow.
The Court of Appeals ruled that if the State’s actions prevent the defendant’s witnesses from arriving at the room within the 30 minutes allotted, then the results – or fact of a refusal – will be suppressed at trial.
6. Failure to Allow the Defendant Witnesses While Held in Custody
In the vast majority of DWI cases, a defendant will be released from custody almost immediately after seeing the Magistrate on what is called a “written promise to appear.” This is the Defendant’s promise to show up at court. No other bond conditions will be imposed.
But in certain cases, either for the safety of the Defendant because of his extreme intoxication or behavior, or because of past criminal history, or other concerns, a Magistrate may impose additional conditions, which the Defendant may not be able to meet immediately.
Because a DWI involves evidence of impairment that may quickly dissipate, North Carolina’s Supreme Court has ruled a defendant has a right to collect evidence on his behalf, and this evidence may include having witnesses come to see him in jail. Therefore, a magistrate, upon a determination that additional bond requirements may be imposed, must inform the Defendant of his right to have witnesses come to the jail, and must provide the Defendant with the opportunity list those witnesses and contact information. injury lawyer