I have been charged with DUI/DWI 2nd Offense in 5 years – charge is incorrect its 1st offense?
I got pulled over and charged with 2 DUI/DWI in the course of several weeks. The 2nd time the officer has incorrectly charged me with 2nd offense charge. The 1st court trial is is going to happen after the 2nd. So tommorow (Nov62009) I will be going to court and being charged with 2nd DWI, but I am not guilty on the 1st yet. No lawyer around seems to know. Any quick legal advice?
more info: The charges are in 2 totally seperate court systems over 60 miles away. Just to clarify I was .07 on both charges under the legal limit of .08. I was also under the impression a charge like this cannot be changed.
Appreciate the answers so far. I already know the penalties, fines, jail time, etc. that I might be facing. I am going to deal with the penalties for the action. I have 2 different lawyers since the court systems I will be in are so far apart. One lawyer on the 2nd charge has said I could end of with 2 1st offence charges. The other has agreed it is possible but less sure about it. I have searched the web over many times but cannot find a similar situation. Anyone have any actual case examples?
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6 Responses to “I have been charged with DUI/DWI 2nd Offense in 5 years – charge is incorrect its 1st offense?”
Have you killed anyone yet? No? Then, "Don’t worry… be hoppy."
You or your lawyer will need to ask to see proof of the 1st DUI conviction. They won’t beable to show it and they will drop the charge to 1st offense. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the original charge will be changed to 2nd offense.
Here’s an idea: don’t drink and drive!
Regardless of the charge, they should revoke your license immediately. The charge of 2nd offense will probably be dropped down, but once convicted, the original charge will probably be upgraded.
Fine, have your lawyer argue that it’s a first offense. The 2nd charge will then be changed to reflect the first conviction.
Either way you’re walking, and may even be doing so around the prison compound.
2 DUI in several weeks is inexcusable.
It is really not that important whether you are treated as a first or a second, because the judge still has a broad range of punishment (for example, even on a first offense in Alabama a person can get up to a year in jail, with the range being from 0 days to a year).
Because you got two so closely together, it is very probable that you will receive a jail sentence. Your best bet to avoid or reduce that time will be to voluntarily enroll in alcohol dependence program (preferably in house). Do this sooner before court. It will look much better to the judge if you have already started the program. Some judges will let consider reducing your sentence day for day for the number of days you stayed in an in-house program.
autoinsurance.undonet.com – check these plans. As I know their rates for bad driving record is not such expensive as from other companies.