Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: DUI 4th degree w/auto accident

Thank you for the inquiry.

If you had a Blood Alcohol Content over .08 but under .20, and if you do not have a prior DWI within 10 years of the current offense, you were charged with a fourth degree offense. This is a misdemeanor and carries with it maximum criminal penalties of 90 days in jail and a $1000 fine. Different Judges give different sentences. As a result, understanding your Judge and knowing how to change Judge's can be an important part of the process.

There is also a civil case that results in the revocation of your driver's license. On a first offense, you may be revoked for up to 90 days. This is a separate case even though the challenges are largely the same. In order to challenge you license revocation, you must seek a judicial review by filing a petition within 30 days of the offense.

There are also additional consequences to a conviction including skyrocketing insurance rates, plate impoundments and sometimes vehicle forfeitures.

There are many challenges to a DWI. Officers must follow very specific steps as part of the arrest. If any one step is missing, the case may be dismissed.

� Reasonable Suspicion. The officer must have reasonable suspicion to believe a specific crime has been committed in order to stop a person. If that reasonable suspicion is lacking the stop and the ticket may be invalid;

� Probable Cause to arrest and charge. the officer must make sufficient observations to form a basis for probable cause to believe that you were operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Oftentimes, officers perform field sobriety tests incorrectly making the arrest invalid;

� Procedures at the Station. The officer must follow very specific procedures at the station including reading and recording an Implied Consent Advisory that informs you that you have a right to a lawyer. If any of the steps are omitted, the charges may be dismissed;

� Test Procedures. Testing methods to determine blood alcohol concentrations are imperfect at best. Like any scientific method, any test result has a margin of error. If the machinery is not properly maintained and even if it is properly maintained, the test results may vary from true Blood Alcohol Concentration. A sufficient variation may result in a reduce charge or no charge.

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Re: DUI 4th degree w/auto accident

A 4th Degree DUI is a misdemeanor, and typically the penalties from court will include a fine in the range of $300-500, probation for 1-2 years, attendance at an alcohol education class and a MADD victim impact panel, and a DUI conviction on your record for life.

The typical license revocation penalty starts at 90 days with a 15-day wait to get a limited license for work and school, but there are ways for a first-time offender to get that total of 90 days reduced down to 60 or even 30 days. Also, the license revocation counts as a "DUI incident" on your driving record and it stays there forever along with your DUI conviction. To get your license back, you have to pay the reinstatement fee of $680.00 and pass a written multiple choice test specifically designed for DUI offenders. These things must be done ahead of time if you want a limited license. If you are trying to challenge your case from staying on your record, there might be ways to postpone the license revocation from starting and/or being excused from paying the reinstatement fee and taking the multiple choice test.

The fact that you got into an accident will probably not do much to change the penalties mentioned above, although you can expect to be on the higher end for a fine and the "victim" of the accident might ask the court to order you to pay restitution for any out-of-pocket loss.

In my opinion, keeping your record alcohol-free is a very important goal, and DUI cases are potentially beatable even when a traffic accident happens. It's all about looking for technicalities, usually. There are a lot of those to challenge, so it might be worth it to you to pursue representation.