Posts Tagged ‘DUI’

Long-term Effects of a DUI

March 30th, 2010

There are a few different ways that a DUI, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, charge can feel like it has ruined your life. These can include expensive fines, incarceration, alcohol education courses, ignition interlock device, a criminal background, and much more. Below are some ways that each of these can impact not only your life, but the lives of your family as well.

Monetary Effect

It can get really expensive to pay all of the fines and fees associated with a DUI. This may include alcohol education classes, installation and rental fee of an IID, reinstatement fee for your driving privileges, addition of an SR-22 to your auto insurance policy, court costs, lawyer fees, and much more. Paying penalties such as these can disrupt your family life and make living very difficult at best. All of this is in addition to your normal living expenses, which must still be paid in order to have housing, utilities, and some of the basic enjoyments in life.

Time Effect

One of the worst long-term side effects of a DUI conviction is the ones on your time. This can mean jail time, in a county jail or state prison, lengthy classes in the evenings or taking up the weekends, plus the time needed for working a job and taking care of business. Effects like this can really hamper your family life, leave little time for romantic relationships, and create friction in existing relationships with friends and extended family. If you are married with children, the time and expense can cost more than your family is able to pay, creating additional problems.

If you or a loved one has been charged with DUI, it is important to contact a skilled DUI attorney right away to protect your rights and avoid penalties such as these.

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Posted in DUI Attorney, OUI Convictions & Penalties, drunk driving

Tags: conviction DUI DUI Attorney DUI penalties fines ignition interlock device incarceration

Felony DUI trial victory

November 2nd, 2009

I just finished a grueling trial last week on a felony DUI. My client had been accused of DUI and refusing to submit to a breath test as well as stealing a car. My kid was looking at at least 2.5 years in prison if he had been convicted of the crime.  It was the greatest feeling to hear the foreman of the jury say the two sweetest words in the english language: Not Guilty!

Sometimes you can just look at a DUI case and figure that it is going to trial no matter what. Sometimes the facts of the case will dictate that direction while other times it is the client’s personal circumstances. Either way, you must always be prepared to take the case to trial. This isn’t poker. Bluffing gets you nowhere except a poor result. If the DA even suspects you are bluffing or that you never follow through with your assertion that you will try the case, chances are your case is going to fold and you, the client, will be left holding the bag.

Choosing an experienced trial lawyer is the key to the successful outcome of your case. Let’s face it. When life gives you lemons, sometimes you have to just make lemonade. If you hire the attorney who tells you “don’t worry, I know the DA”, or “I’ll get you a good deal”, you have just made a big mistake. There is nothing wrong with trying to angle a deal in a DUI case. However, deals don’t just grow on trees. They are earned through hard work and preparation as well as a time-tested reputation. It is better to negotiate with the point of a sword than it is to do it from your knees.

Don’t make the classic mistake of hiring the cheapest attorney or the attorney who will tell you what you want to hear. Rather, hire the attorney who you feel will most likely get you the results you want in your case.

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Posted in DUI Attorney, DUI Defense, criminal defense, drunk driving

Tags: attorney DUI felony lawyer Maine trial victory

1st offense DUI. No big deal right?

October 19th, 2009

1st offense DUI penalties.

No big deal right? WRONG! Once you get that first DUI conviction, you have set the table for the nightmare scenario… a 2nd offense DUI. The best preventative medicine is to ensure you don’t get convicted in the first place.

Let’s talk about the penalties. The fine for a 1st offense DUI is $500… $700 on a 2nd offense DUI. No jail on an ordinary 1st offense DUI… 7 days jail on an ordinary 2nd offense DUI. 90 day loss of license on a 1st offense DUI conviction… 3 year loss of license on a 2nd offense DUI conviction. That’s right. I said a THREE YEAR suspension on a 2nd offense DUI.

The point of this article is to emphasize that you didn’t plan on getting tagged with a DUI the first time around and you won’t plan on it happening again for a 2nd offense. If you go the route of handling the case yourself or retaining the wrong lawyer, you will regret it if you find yourself on the DUI merry-go-round again.

Nip it in the bud and take care of the case now.  Call my office to speak with me about your case before you make a decision that could negatively impact your future.

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Posted in OUI Convictions & Penalties, drunk driving

Tags: 1st offense driver license DUI Maine OUI penalty suspension

Maine DUI trials – does the chemist have to testify?

October 12th, 2009

In a Maine DUI case involving a blood test or a drug test, the State must produce the chemist who tested the blood or urine for alcohol and drugs.  Recent US Supreme Court case law mandates that the State must prove this portion of the case through live testimony.  Previously, the State could rely on a chemical analysis affidavit alone.  However, the US Supreme Court decided that the Confrontation Clause of the US Constitution mandates live testimony.

So why is this important?  Because that means there is one more step that the State must take to try and prove their case against you.  One more step that they can be tripped up on.  One more thing to pile up on an ever increasing workload.  All of this equals additional strain and work on the DA which means a higher likelihood that a good plea offer may be more likely or that the State will have a difficult time scheduling or preparing their expert for trial.

Remember the maxim of the trial lawyer… Those who expect a trial and prepare for trial, win the trial.  Those who expect a plea and prepare for a plea merely plead their clients guilty.

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Posted in DUI Attorney, DUI Defense

Tags: attorney DUI DUI Defense testimony trial US Supreme Court

Maine DUI & Diabetes

October 6th, 2009

If you are a diabetic and you were arrested for a DUI, you may have been wrongly charged.  Now, the key word is may.  Many different factors come into play for diabetics.  There are two states that a diabetic needs to be concerned about: hypo and hyperglycemic.  Hyperglycemia occurs when there are very high levels of glucose coursing through the blood.  This can lead to extreme thirst, constant urination, abdominal pain and if left untreated, eventually death.

We are mainly concerned with hypoglycemia in an OUI.  When alcohol is consumed in the absence of food or when too much alcohol is consumed, a hypoglycemic episode can occur.  Hypoglycemia is diabetic state where there is not enough glucose in the blood because alcohol will inhibit the production of glucose from the liver.  In addition, a hypoglycemic condition may easily be mistaken by a police officer as signs of intoxication as a person who is in a hypoglycemic state appears intoxicated.

Another serious side effect of the hypoglycemic state is the acetone produced on the breath that is quickly converted into ketones.  These ketones on the breath are totally indistinguishable from the alcohol on the breath from the lungs, which is the true measurement of a person’s blood alcohol content.  What happens is is that the Intoxilyzer cannot distinguish between ketones and alcohol so it lumps them together in one BAC calculation.  Therefore, you may be under the legal limit but the machine penalizes you for the ketones on your breath.  Since the police officer thought you were drunk in the first place, the BAC print out from the Intoxilyzer merely confirms his suspicions.  The result is a charge of DUI.  When that happens, you’re going to need a good lawyer to sort things out.  Pick up the phone and call my office if you are a diabetic who was charged with DUI, OUI or DWI in Maine or New Hampshire.

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Posted in drunk driving

Tags: defense diabetes drunk driving DUI Maine Portland

Maine OUI – Blood Test

October 1st, 2009

Blood testing in Maine is serious business.  Having a blood sample drawn following your arrest is a traumatic experience.  When you are arrested for DUI in Maine, a police officer has the right to request a chemical test of his choosing.  That chemical test includes breath, urine or blood.  While the preferred method is breath, because it is the least invasive, blood is usually the most accurate of the three tests.

If you had a blood sample drawn for testing it will likely be tested by a chemist at the Maine Health Environmental Testing Laboratory.  If the blood draw was performed at a hospital, it may have been analyzed by the hospital staff.  The difference is significant and make a great difference on the outcome of your case.

Blood testing regimes are considered fool-proof by the chemists employed by the State.  However, this is a fallacy because while the blood test is performed on a gas chromatograph (which is a highly accurate forensic device), these tests are performed by human beings.

Scientist 300x200 Maine OUI Blood Test

The nurse will draw your blood and this is a rich area for exploitation by the defense team.  Contamination of the specimen during the blood draw is a real concern.  If the ampules are not filled, the vacuum seal could weaken and thus allow bacteria to contaminate the sample, which in turn produces alcohol (neo-genesis of alcohol).  Perhaps the nurse incorrectly labeled the blood tubes.  There is a whole host of potential problems surrounding the blood draw.

Another area rife for exploitation concerns the storage of the blood samples.  Were the vials properly refrigerated or were they instead stored in the trunk of the cruiser?  What about the refrigerator?  What else is stored there besides blood?  Take-out chinese perhaps?

There are many, many areas to exploit concerning the drawing, storage and analysis of blood samples in a DUI case.  The problem is that many attorneys (and prosecutors for that matter) believe that a blood sample = an open and shut case.  Your attorney needs to know what to look for.  He needs to be trained understand gas chromatograph calibration charts.  He needs to understand the testing protocols the lab employs and be up on the latest science concerning blood testing.  Don’t be afraid to ask your attorney what his specialized training and background might be concerning blood draws.  If you decide to retain an attorney from NIELSEN & BLY, you can be assured that our attorneys are trained in the latest forensic analysis theory and techniques.  Because that could make all the difference in the world for your case.

Bill Intoxilyzer

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Posted in DUI Attorney, DUI Defense

Tags: BAC Blood testing DUI DUI Defense Maine DUI arrest Maine OUI