The ABCs of DWI

DWI law in Minnesota has its own 40-page section of the criminal code. No other crime has more than a few pages. Furthermore, one in seven Minnesota drivers has a DWI.  DWI law is complicated, and a lot of people are affected by it.

Here’s what happens in when you are charged with DWI, and what I do for you at each step of the way.

The Stop

What Happens

A peace officer can pull someone over if the peace officer has a “reasonable articulable suspicion” that the driver has broken any law (that includes speeding, broken tail light, or rolling through a stop sign).

That is a lower standard than “probable cause.”

The driver is subsequently arrested if, after further investigation, the peace officer finds that he or she has probable cause to arrest this person for violation of a specific law.  If you do not talk to the police or take field sobriety tests, it’s harder for them to get probable cause to arrest!

What I Do For You

My job is to hold the stop up to inspection and make sure the driver was stopped for a legitimate reason.

What I do is often described as getting people “off on a technicality.”  I don’t see it that way.

The standard is low, but the state still needs some legitimate reason to stop a driver and ask questions.   Some stops, frankly, are just pretexts based on the officer’s hunch.

The Investigation

What Happens

Reasonable articulable suspicion that justified the stop is not enough “evidence” of a crime to justify an arrest.  For that, the peace officer needs probable cause.

The peace officer’s observations (bloodshot, watery eyes; slurred speech; odor of consumed alcoholic beverages), field sobriety tests, driving conduct, and the PBT (the device you blow into on the side of the road) are among the ways police establish probable cause to arrest.

What I Do For You

I examine the specific observations based on the police report, the audio and video recordings, and other evidence, and challenge whether the peace officer actually had probable cause to arrest.  If not, I file a motion to dismiss the charges.

The Charges and Penalties- Criminal and Civil

If the officer finds probable cause, two things happen, one criminal (a DWI charge) and one civil (a driver’s license revocation). They are separate matters.

Criminal Charges

What happens

If the driver’s blood, breath, or urine tests above 0.08 (lower for commercial drivers and people under the legal drinking age), he or she will be charged with the crime of DWI.

Three “aggravating factors” determine the severity of the charge.  Each one bumps the charge up one level:

1. a prior offense,
2. a child in the car
3. a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.16 or higher.

This criminal charge can result in a fine or jail time.  The criminal charge has nothing to do with your driver’s license or your driving record.

What I do for you

I hold the State to the strictest proof of their charge.

The first thing I do is get your license back.

You have a right to a trial by a jury of your peers (six people for the usual, first-time DWI), the presumption of innocence, the right to present evidence in your defense, to cross examine the state’s evidence and witnesses, and to remain silent without that silence being used against you.

I make the State prove its case, often through trial.

Civil Penalties

What happens

At the time a driver is arrested, but before the driver takes the breath, urine, or blood test, the driver is read the Implied Consent Advisory.  It says, in part, “Minnesota law requires you to take a test to see if you’re under the influence of alcohol. . . . Refusal to take this test is a crime.”

If the driver takes the test and “fails,” (providing a sample over 0.08) the driver’s license is revoked, 90 days for a first time DWI.  And if the driver refuses to take the test — after all, it is a warrantless search — his or her license is revoked for a minimum of one year.

What I do for you

The first thing I do is get your license back.

Then I sue the State.  I demand a hearing to argue that the State should permanently reinstate your license, an Implied Consent, or “IC” hearing.

Once the State revokes your license, it stays revoked, even if the DWI case is later thrown out, unless the driver sues the state within 30 days of the initial stop and revocation.

It’s not “a technicality”

What I do is often described as getting people “off on a technicality.”  I don’t see it that way.  Protecting America’s unique freedoms requires constant vigilance.

Let me defend you!

The Constitution Is Not A Technicality.

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