Convicted of DWI/DUI – Know The Facts

First Time Offenders

Confused. Afraid. Defenseless. These are just some of the feelings of someone arrested for their first DWI. The first thing to remember is that all is not lost! Humans do make mistakes, and though this is a big one, it was just that – a mistake. What you need to do now is take action to defend yourself and prepare for your upcoming trial. The best suggestion is to fill out our contact form and we’ll find you the best lawyer in your area that can help with your case. Some people claim that having a lawyer is not necessary as the courts have certain criteria they follow for DWI/DUI cases and they will do so regardless of your representation. However, going to court without legal representation is much like playing golf without any clubs or soccer without the ball – you’re not fully prepared. Unless you’re an attorney yourself who specializes in DWI/DUI cases in your area, make contact with a lawyer to discuss what to do.

What are the Consequences?

Again, this may vary depending on where you live or where the crime occurred. That said, know that the minimum you may face will be large fines, loss of your vehicle or driving privileges, and time in jail. There are options for the first time offender to avoid jail time.

Electronic monitoring is where the offender wears an electronic ankle bracelet that signals the location of the wearer at all times. The wearer will usually be allowed to go to work or school, but must be home at a set time.
There is the option of placement into a work release program. The offender must work at a site designated by the Probation department, but is allowed to return to their own home each night to sleep.
A work furlough is somewhat the opposite of work release. The offender gets to remain working at their regular job, but must return to a dormitory-style facility to sleep at night. They are released each day to go to work.
City Jail may be an option in your area. This is dressed up with friendly sounding names such as “weekend jail” or “private jail”. In this scenario, the offender checks themselves into the prison for an overnight stay and is usually released the next day.
Sometimes the DWI/DUI is merely a side effect of a more serious alcohol or drug addiction. If this is your scenario, a rehabilitation program would be a great start to your treatment. While this is certainly not the case in every instance, some people who are arrested for these types of cases can best address alcohol or drug rehab as an alternative to jail.
For those that are multiple offenders, or have a drug or alcohol problem that has not responded to past attempts at treatment, sober living is sometimes the best alternative. These are houses, both for men and women, where all of the residents are sober. The structure of each house will vary, but residents are usually required to attend a 12-Step meeting daily, participate in house groups and functions, and perform a household chore. In addition to allowing the participant to avoid a lengthy jail stay, sober living environments have helped many improve the quality of their lives.

If you, or someone you care about, has been arrested as a result of a problem with alcohol or drugs, we urge you to seek legal counsel. Any battle can be successful with the proper preparation.

Clearing Your Name

You might already have a drunk driving charge in your past. You might have been caught and had a DWI/DUI case filed against you recently. You could be in need of clearing it for the purpose of maintaining a clean background record or to maintain your employment. This section walks you through how you can clear or significantly minimize your DUI records, get your driver license back (if necessary), and save money on vehicle insurance.

Most people don’t realize that they can completely clear their DWI/DUI records, or prevent it from showing up on any background checks. Maybe you have an older DWI/DUI conviction record and are looking to clear it and prevent it from showing up on any background and criminal records. A DWI/DUI conviction record yields a bad reputation and you must immediately clear it or prevent it from showing up on any of the background searches usually conducted during employment. DWI/DUI records can be cleared in 2 methods -> by yourself and by using an attorney.

Using an Attorney

If you don’t have the information to clear the DWI/DUI records on your own, you can by using an efficient lawyer who can clear your DWI/DUI records permanently. In that case you have to choose an attorney who specializes in handling DWI/DUI records. Those lawyers represent your state as a DUI/ DWI defense attorney. The attorneys must be a certified breath test operator. They also must be a certified instructor of standardized field sobriety tests (SFST). Research to find the best DUI/DWI Defense Law firm in your state. These attorneys help you to get your driver license back and can point you to the right auto insurance firm that helps you save money.

Clearing it yourself

Learning how to clear your DWI/DUI record on your own is not rocket science. You can fill out a few forms and then prevent it immediately from showing up on the public records. After you have done that, you are relatively safe. Your employer can’t find your records on any of the public record directories. You can get your drivers license back and save money on auto insurance all by yourself by filling out a few additional forms and doing some research.

Now you know the methods available to clear your DWI/DUI records. Now go and remove that “X” mark from your background records as soon as possible.

Repeat Offenders

Have you heard the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me?” This encapsulates the feeling of the courts regarding repeat DWI/DUI offenders. Once, and the courts may be gentle (depending on your circumstances) and you can get back to your life. Show up again, for the same crime, and it will be much harder to look at the judge and say “oops!” At this point, they are seeing a pattern and will come down hard to put a stop to it.

The state of Minnesota has come up with an interesting plan to get repeat offenders involved in their own rehabilitation – staggered sentencing. This is just as it sounds. Serve some time up front, a little more down the road, and some more further along. Jail time broken up within the probationary period. To quote a small piece from their 2003 brief on the subject:

“Under the staggered sentencing model, the offender has the responsibility to take the initiative to live up to the conditions of probation, to schedule a court hearing prior to the date for reporting for any subsequent segment of incarceration, and to convince the court that he or she has adopted lifestyle changes which significantly lessen the chances of further recidivism.”

This effectively attempts to keep the offender actively committed to serving their time and completing their probation.

There was a study done a while back that indicated that repeat DWI offenders could have a high mental illness rate (scroll to the bottom of the page). The theory behind the study was that there is an underlying reason for the offense. They looked at offenders with at least two DWI/DUI convictions. The majority of them, both men and women, had some form of mental illness along with a drug or alcohol dependency. Knowing this, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation hopes to bring awareness that going after the offense itself is only treating the problem. Hopefully, the court systems will keep this in mind and take a full approach to treating offenders rather than sending them to jail and moving on.

Whatever your reason for ending up in the same mess with a repeat DWI or DUI offense, take time to examine what really allowed you to re-offend. Any online search will show you that repeat offenders are dealt with quite seriously. If this is only your first offense, or you have never had a DWI/DUI, then stay on the right path and don’t allow it to happen to you. If this is your second time (or third, or more) then get serious about taking care of yourself and fix any underlying problems you may have and get back to leading a clean life.