Legal•Info

District of Columbia DWI / DUI Lawyer

If you live in the District of Columbia, or were on vacation or doing business in the District of Columbia, and were arrested and charged with a DWI (driving while intoxicated) or DUI (driving under the influence) offense, you will need to seek out and hire a District of Columbia lawyer right away.

The first thing you must do is file a challenge to your DUI charge or you will automatically lose your driver's license without a hearing. You must seek an experienced District of Columbia lawyer to help you through the legal proceedings involved with a DUI charge.

The District of Columbia has several laws in place affecting DUI offenses.

Administrative License Revocation: If you fail a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) test or refuse to take one, your driver's license will be immediately forfeited and suspended.

Zero Tolerance Law: Anyone under the age of 21 with any alcohol in their blood is subject to DUI penalties.

0.08% BAC Law: Any blood alcohol content at or above 0.08% is considered to be above the legal limit.

Intensive Sobriety Checkpoints: the District of Columbia has highly visible sobriety checkpoints to try and insure the enforcement of the laws.

The District of Columbia also has some stringent guidelines in place for repeat offenders. These policies include: vehicle impounding after conviction, mandatory ignition interlocks; electronic monitoring and/or house arrest measures; and intensive supervised probation with treatment programs included.

If you are convicted of a DWI or DUI offense, some of the possible penalties are jail time; substantial monetary fines; suspension or revocation of your driver's license; and community service. If and when you get your driver's license back, your insurance rates will greatly increase, and you will never be able to obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL), if ever desired or needed.

Your District of Columbia lawyer will review all aspects of your case and search for any errors or omissions which might prove helpful to you. Your experienced District of Columbia lawyer will discuss your case with the judge and prosecutor, and will attempt to get as much leniency on your behalf as possible.

Your District of Columbia attorney will challenge the validity and results of any and all tests that were taken at the time of your arrest and will go over every minute detail to determine all the potential elements of your situation. For instance:

You cannot be stopped by an officer in the District of Columbia without just cause and reasonable belief that you were committing a traffic or other law violation. The officer has to be able to prove why you were stopped in the first place.

You cannot be stopped for weaving around inside your lane. Weaving inside your lane while driving is not illegal in the District of Columbia.

Videos made from the squad car or in the booking room can present a different picture than what the written statements against you shows. Therefore, you have the right to challenge what was said about you by utilizing a copy of the videotapes made by the police at the time.

The District of Columbia must provide you with access to a speedy trial. If your trial does not proceed within a certain specified period of time, the charges against you must be dropped.

If you have been charged with a DWI or DUI in the District of Columbia, find and hire an experienced District of Columbia DUI lawyer today.