Robert Molloy:
Driving While Intoxicated/ Traffic Matters
D.W.I.
In my experience, few areas of our criminal justice system bring out the "guilty until proven innocent" mentality in the public, politicians, prosecutors and judges like D.W.I charges. This rush to judgment is compounded by the fact that many people who are charged with driving under the influence of alcohol are "regular" people who would usually not have any involvement in the criminal justice system.
The fact is, many people who are charged with D.W.I. are not guilty. However, it seems that once a Driving While Intoxicated Charge has been brought against a person, there is a presumption that the charge is true and that police error is not possible. A few years ago New York State passed a law which requires the immediate suspension of a person's drivers license when charged with driving while intoxicated. This suspension occurs before there is any finding of guilt. This law has been challenged and has held up. It seems obvious to me that our criminal justice system is very willing to ignore the fact that many people are charged with driving while intoxicated who are simply not guilty.
In this atmosphere of "presumed guilt", it is essential that any driver charged with operating under the influence of alcohol obtain immediate legal advice. A short delay in retaining an attorney can be costly.
In order to effectively represent clients charge with Driving While Intoxicated, an attorney must be able to blend knowledge of the law with knowledge of the science that goes into sobriety testing.