Law Offices of Robert D. Butler: Driving Offenses

Driving Offenses

Our office represents individuals charged with all variety of traffic-related offenses including common infractions such as:

	Speeding
	Driving under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol (DWI /DUI)
	Negligent Driving and Driving while License Suspended (DWLS)

Vehicular Assault and Vehicular Homicide are handled as felonies even though they involve driving. In most cases, driving offenses are more significant than initially meets the eye. License suspension follows the more serious offenses and all offenses usually result in increased insurance premiums.

It is important to remember that there are different standards of proof required for the different offenses as well as the necessary evidence. For a traffic infraction such as speeding, the state must prove by a "preponderance of the evidence," a relatively low standard, while in a criminal citation such as DUI or DWLS the state has to prove by the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt," the highest degree of proof.

Regarding DUI specifically, currently (since 1999) Washington has adopted the threshold of .08% alcohol based on a breath test. If you are arrested for suspicion of DUI, you will be required to provide a breath sample, which is something you agreed to, in the fine print, when signed for and received your Washington Driver's License. If you refuse, you will have your license suspended for one year at the minimum, unless you can prove you fit into one of the few exceptions allowed. If you provide a breath sample that exceeds .08 you will have your license suspended for a minimum of 90 days, again unless you can prove you fit into one of the few exceptions. It is important to realize that if you are arrested for DUI, you have two cases to defend, one against the Department of Licensing who wants to suspend your license for either blowing over .08 or refusing to blow, AND you have the criminal case wherein you are looking at jail time and fines, probation, alcohol evaluations, and/or mandatory AA meetings.

DUI's can and should be viewed as more serious offenses than many of the common class C felonies. By way of example, a person with two prior DUIs who blows less than .15, will receive a mandatory minimum jail time of 90 days AND 120 days of electronic home monitoring (ehm), mandatory ignition interlock device on your vehicle for not less than a year, plus three years license suspension/revocation (criminal side sentencing is separate from the administrative DOL suspension) plus probation to monitor compliance with alcohol evaluation. If you refuse to blow or blow greater than .15 the penalty jumps to 120 days jail, 150 days of ehm, higher fines and four years of license suspension. Comparing DUI to possession of stolen property, a second time offender on a stolen possession charge would only be looking at the maximum of 90 days with the range being 0-90 days and with no mandatory minimum days required.

Considering the consequences and possible outcomes from aggressive representation, it is very important to retain counsel when dealing with any serious driving offense. The financial cost alone of a first DUI is staggering when considering the probation fee of $50.00 per month for what can be five years, Alcohol Evaluation at $125.00 and compliance with the recommended treatment plan which can be up to $3000.00, as well as high risk insurance (SR22) costs, roughly $1000.00 in fines and costs to the court and the cost of not driving for 90 -180 days during the suspension period can add to the expense as well. Second and subsequent DUI's raise the penalty exponentially.

Often, the persons charged with their first DUI are so scared and embarrassed by the experience that they want to get it behind them and see pleading guilty immediately as the best alternative. There are a lot of alternatives to an immediate plea of guilty that should be explored with counsel. Plea bargaining your case is always available, and even modest or small concessions can make a huge difference in the future in such things as insurance and license suspensions. Often there are legal issues that you are not aware of that may significantly affect the outcome of your case. Pleading guilty at the first instance is rarely a good idea and the "deals" the prosecutor offers will still be available later on in almost every case.

When Calling a Law Office for Help

When contacting a law office for criminal representation, it is important to understand that the office needs three pieces of information almost immediately.

	Your name so that we can check for any conflict of interest
	The date of arrest and what you were charged with
	Any pending court dates and in which court

From that information, the office can better serve you in the first moments of the call.

Next, the law office will need a copy of all the paperwork you received from the arresting officer. Many people want to tell the story of what happened first and while that is important it is not the most important issue facing the law office during the initial call. There should be plenty of time for you to go over the story once the calendar is taken care of and deadlines are noted. You will also be asked if any witnesses were present, if yes, you should be prepared to provide their name, phone number, address and approximate age if possible.

Lastly, be sure to get a fee quote before you hang up from the initial contact with the attorney or office professional.