Designing A Better DWI Defense: 5 Legal Ways A DWI Specialist Attorney Can Help To Prepare Your Defense, Deal With The Side Effects Of DWI Charges, Or Get Improper Cases Thrown Out Of Court
Do you know that Dallas Cowboys fans are considered wealthier than other teams’ fans?
It’s because we never have to pay for Super Bowl tickets…
I know, I know, it’s easy to rip on our football team, but since I’m a fan myself, I feel like I’m allowed to.
We’re not here to talk about football, though. Assuming that you’ve read the headline, you already know that we’re actually here to talk about DWI charges.
That means that you also know, I’m certain, that DWI means Driving While Intoxicated (or Impaired), and we’re not going to pretend that anyone thinks it’s legal, safe, or proper.
However, it also doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have the best defense possible — and you’re going to need it fast if you want to hold onto your license.
We’ll get to the specifics of that in a minute, but first we need to know what “the best defense possible” means, and why it’s important.
The short version is simple: getting charged with a DWI is a serious offense, with serious consequences, and the consequences get worse for repeat offenders or anyone who has a child in the car at the time they’re charged.
It’s well worth getting a top-notch defense, because you don’t get a do-over if you miss your day in court, or if you’re not prepared.
Not every lawyer is equally skilled in this area, so make sure that you’re looking for a local attorney who specializes specifically in DWI charges if you want the best chance of success.
Here are 5 ways the right lawyer might be able to help, and what you can ask them about.
1. ALR Hearing
Once you get charged with a DWI, you’re going to automatically have your driver’s license suspended, unless you have a successful Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing.
Your attorney can help you to schedule, and hopefully win, your ALR hearing, which will allow you to keep on driving at least for the moment, while your case winds its way through the courts.
2. Analyze The Arrest
We’ve all seen Cop shows where a person isn’t read their rights, or somehow their arrest goes wrong, and they magically get let off their charges.
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That’s pretty unlikely to happen, but it has happened before, and will again, so don’t neglect to talk to your lawyer and make sure everything was above board, just in case you weren’t arrested properly.
3. Evaluate The Evidence
Sometimes the evidence in these cases is rock-solid, and sometimes it’s thinner than a smear of oil on water.
However, it’s really hard to tell which is the case unless you’re a legal expert who’s used to examining DWI evidence, so don’t trust your own judgment here.
Ask your lawyer to examine all the evidence, and you’ll likely know well in advance of your court date what your chances of winning or losing are.
4. Find The Flaws
In some cases, there may be flaws in the arresting officer’s report, the testing procedures for the equipment they used, or there may be video sources that can help with your case.
Your lawyer’s job is to check into all of these things and look for flaws in the prosecution’s case.
If they find major flaws, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll go free, but it definitely improves your chances of winning the case.
5. Give Good Guidance
Last but far from least, with all this information available, your lawyer can tell you what’s likely to happen next, and what you can do about it.
This can include guidance about how to handle legal meetings or court dates, advice about the most likely outcomes and the results, or suggestions for how to limit the fallout.
The key thing to remember here is that they’re on your side, and they’ve seen this all before.
Obviously, the best solution to a DWI charge is to avoid them in the first place, but if that fails, your next best bet is to find a top-notch lawyer who knows all about how to fight them.
This becomes even more important if the charge is a second or third offence, or if there were children in the vehicle at the time.
The penalties for driving while intoxicated keep getting stronger, so we need to make sure we’re taking every opportunity to get our defense done right.
