Hello everyone. As promised yesterday, here are some suggestions on how to identify a DWI defense lawyer to represent you in your case. These are by no means all-inclusive, but might give you a start on this process:
HOW DO I FIND A GOOD DWI DEFENSE LAWYER
by Mark Stevens
http://www.ByeByeDWI.com
If you have just been arrested for DWI you have probably just spent the worst night of your life. You have been subjected to a battery of roadside gymnastics, handcuffed, humiliated and embarrassed. You have wondered whether your name will be in the paper. You have wondered whether you will be fired when your boss finds out about this. You may have had to call a loved one to pick you up at the police station in the middle of the night.
On the night of your arrest you made some decisions. You decided whether to do all of the roadside gymnastics the police devised and you decided whether to give the state evidence to use against you in a breath or blood test. All of those decisions are already made, and some of them may have been bad decisions. It is important to make a good decision now.
The next critical decision you have to make is whether to get a DWI defense lawyer. Trying to deal with this on your own or based upon the advice of friends can be perilous. The United States Supreme Court has noted repeatedly that misdemeanants who have a lawyer tend to fare better than those who do not. In Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 35-36 (1972) the Court found that misdemeanants with attorneys are five times more likely to have charges dismissed as misdemeanants without counsel.
Once you make the decision to hire a lawyer the question becomes “who should I hire?” You may not want to ask around among your friends because you are embarrassed about this. You look in the phone book or online and see a lot of lawyers who say they represent people who are charged with DWI. Are these lawyers good at obtaining NOT GUILTY verdicts on DWI charges, or do they just encourage their clients to take whatever deals the police want them to take? Some lawyers encourage their clients to plead guilty to DWI because the lawyer “gets them a deal for the minimums” if they plead guilty. This is usually not a good deal but it probably only requires a 2 or 3 minute phone call to do. A good DWI defense lawyer knows that the real “minimum” penalty is zero: a NOT GUILTY verdict.
How then will you choose who to represent you? Ask any potential lawyer how many DWI trials he actually tried last year. Be sure to specify how many of those cases were DWI TRIALS, not just cases where the lawyer assisted some one in getting convicted or pleaded cases out to lesser included offenses. Ask when he WON his last DWI case. This should be recent, within the past week or so. Ask when the lawyer’s next DWI trial is and where. This should be within a few days of when you meet the lawyer Go and watch if you can.
If you have a case involving a breath test, ask whether the lawyer has obtained a NOT GUILTY verdict on a case involving a breath test the same or worse than yours. For example, if your alleged breath test “result” was a .18, ask the lawyer if he has ever beaten a case involving a breath test result of .18. Be careful here to be certain that “beating” a case does not mean “pleading it out”, or “getting the prosecutor to reduce the charge”. It means a judge or jury saying “NOT GUILTY”.
The experienced DWI trial lawyer will ask you questions about the breath test that you took during your initial consultation. He should show you a machine like the one you blew into, both at the roadside and at the police station. The DWI lawyer should ask you questions like, “is this the same type of machine that you blew into on the roadside?” and “is this the type of mouthpiece that the officer put on the machine before you blew into it?” These details are important and you should make sure your DWI defense lawyer is familiar with how these gizmos work in real life.
You can get convicted of DWI all on your own. Getting an acquittal on your own or without the representation of an attorney who regularly represents clients accused of DWI is highly unlikely.
You wouldn’t perform knee surgery on yourself, nor would you go to an eye doctor to do it. You wouldn’t go to your primary care physician to replace your knee either. You would go to a surgeon who has frequently and regularly replaced other people’s knees successfully. Likewise when you are charged with DWI you should consult with an attorney who regularly fights DWI charges on behalf of his or her clients. This is an attorney who is thinking of ways to win your case, not some one who is looking to try and quickly plead the case out.
In order to help you with this process, I will post a questionnaire that you can print out and take with you as you meet with prospective lawyers. There will also be special questions to ask regarding a DWI cases alleging drug impairment and for boating while intoxicated cases.
Take it with you to any lawyer you are interviewing and ask all these questions.
REMEMBER:
1. PEOPLE WHO HAVE DWI DEFENSE LAWYERS HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING THEIR CASE THAN PEOPLE WHO DO NOT
2. YOUR DECISION ON WHICH DWI DEFENSE LAWYER YOU HIRE MAY HAVE A LONG TERM IMPACT ON YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE
3. LOOK FOR A LAWYER WHO FIGHTS DWI CASES, NOT JUST PLEADS THEM OUT TO THE “DWI MINIMUMS”
4. THE REAL MINIMUM PENALTY IS “ZERO”
By Mark Stevens
5 Manor Parkway
Salem, New Hampshire 03079
603-893-0074
http://www.ByeByeDWI.com
COMING NEXT: a questionnaire you can print and take with you when you interview prospective DWI defense lawyers.
Legal Advertising
New Hampshire DWI laws. New Hampshire DWI lawyer Mark Stevens. If you ever need help in New Hampshire with a DWI case: dui laws, aggravated DWI laws, boating while intoxicated laws or DWI defense topics and issues visit ByeByeDWI.com or call the Law Offices of Mark Stevens at 603-893-0074. The Law Offices of Mark Stevens are located in Salem, New Hampshire.
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